Hey, it’s Matt, Cat’s husband.
Catharine King was the best mom on the planet.
She fought pancreatic cancer for five years. From the first night we sat huddled in front of the fireplace staring at the word “adenocarcinoma,” to the moment I held my forehead to hers and told her, “I love you to the moon and back… goodbye,” and took our kids away so they wouldn’t have to watch cancer take its final toll.
Cat endured everything. The Whipple procedure. Hospitalizations and complications. Tubes and wires and biopsies. The worst poisons you can put into a human body in the hope they kill the cancer before they kill the person. Chemo. Radiation. Experimental medicine. Clinical trials. Holistic options. All of it. Writing these words makes me recoil. Living them was unbearable.
And yet, through all of it, she stayed a bright light for our kids, Mira (16), Matilda (13), and Wolfie (12). She drove them to school before taking herself to chemo. Made lunches. Designed lavish birthdays. Baked hundreds of cookies. Painted stunning work and built her online shop. Loved our puppy Sunny like she was a fourth child. She was still swimming 50 laps three months before this disease took her.
We had incredible support from our families, especially Cat’s sister Christina, who quite literally saved her life more times than I can count. But this monster still won.
The financial impact of five years of treatments, travel, trials, hospital stays, surgeries, and recovery has been enormous. Not to mention the fact that this was in the face of evacuating from the LA fires, and the contraction of the LA entertainment industry. My insurance covers a lot, but not everything, especially in the American medical system. We’re raising funds to help with the remaining costs and to support Cat’s three kids as we navigate this new reality.
• The funds will be used for remaining medical bills and out-of-pocket treatment costs, including co-pays, deductibles, prescriptions, and uncovered services.
• They will also help cover any outstanding travel, lodging, and transportation related to care and clinical trials that wasn’t covered.
• They will help with memorial and administrative expenses, paperwork, etc.
• They will support the kids in the months ahead, including grief counseling or therapy, school needs, and basic household stability during this transition.
• If there is extra, we will honor Cat’s final wish and take the kids to place her ashes in the Aegean Sea off the island of Sifnos.
If you can donate, thank you! If you can’t, sharing this helps just as much. We’re grateful for every bit of love you send our way.
With love,
Matt