One photo on her Web site shows a beaming Rachel, 9 years old, a manapua in one hand and baskets full of dim sum on the table in front of her. The caption reads: "The old days when I could eat."

The new days are difficult.

Rachel Kim is 10 now, and her life is very different. Diagnosed last November with a rare type of cancer, undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma, she is in and out of the hospital, sometimes very weak and unable to walk, taking nourishment only through a tube in her stomach.

"It is a hard journey through a cancer life," she wrote about her illness.

Bruce Kim, a Honolulu police officer, has watched his little half sister struggle through surgery to remove a 10-pound tumor from her liver and an aggressive 42-week schedule of chemotherapy.

"We're pretty close considering we have different moms," he said.

"When my dad-them were in the hospital weeks at a time, I tried to help take care of the dog or run errands for them — just do that kind of stuff because I couldn't really do anything else and staying in the hospital didn't really help. It's hard to just stay there," Kim said.

Now, Rachel is home but is readmitted to Kapi'olani Hospital frequently with fevers, nosebleeds and low blood counts. She would have been in fifth grade at Pearlridge Elementary but is too sick to attend school. Still, her big brother says, she perseveres.

"The cancer is so rare that they don't know how it reacts to chemo and that's why they've been giving her such large doses," Kim says. "They do ultrasounds and they can't see anything left of it, but they worry about particles still floating around in her body."

Some of his fellow HPD officers suggested holding a fundraiser for Rachel as a way to help.

"It's just ongoing," Kim said. "They're surviving, but if we can get them some money to help out, then my dad's wife, Kelly, doesn't have to work and she can stay home and take care of Rachel."

Kim put together a fundraiser for Rachel that will be held Sunday at Pipeline Café. If all goes well, Rachel will be able to be there in person.

"I have good days and bad days," Rachel wrote. "On good days, I like to have visitors or go to Fun Factory. I also like to play with my dog Coco. On bad days, I mostly sleep."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.