As some of you will already know, our little family is facing something we never imagined we would have to face. Gray has uveal metastatic melanoma - a rare and aggressive cancer that starts in the eye and typically spreads through the liver, with very poor prognosis. His journey began back in 2018 when he lost his eye to the cancer, and for years we hoped that would be the end of it. But in January 2024, three months into travelling and hoping to spend a year in Europe, we received the devastating news that the cancer had metastasised to his liver. We returned to Perth urgently, trying to rebuild life around hospital appointments and treatment.

If you want to read more, Gray wrote extensively about our journey from adventure to medical intervention in our travel blog, www.road2grow.com.

Gray underwent cyberknife soon after, and scans were clear until early 2025, when the next scan showed his liver was now filled with an uncountable number of tumours. He entered an experimental clinical trial that managed to hold things steady for seven months, until the drug no longer halted progression and itself became toxic. After that, we moved onto dual immunotherapy, but that has failed, and we have now reached the end of all treatment options.

Gray has stopped working for some time, and in recent weeks his health has been rapidly deteriorating, with his oncologist estimating weeks, not months. His liver now takes up the majority of his torso, extending as high as his right pectoral muscle and lower than his belly button on the left. It is so large that it is crushing his lungs, leaving the lower sections collapsed and making even simple breathing difficult. His torso is so distended that it significantly impairs movement, and the pressure means that eating even small portions of food is a difficult and often painful task. I have been working less and less to care for him, and whilst we have savings to draw from, it has been declining quickly in the face of appointments, medications and daily living. We are now connected with a palliative care team, who have been a tremendous help, but our situation continues to become more difficult.

Over the past year, we have had to make many difficult decisions, and some of them have been the hardest of our lives. We have tried not to make choices based in fear, but instead on what matters most to us, even when that path has felt incredibly heavy.

Amidst everything we are navigating, I am also pregnant. This brings both complexity and quiet hope into an already overwhelming time, and adds to the need for stability and support as we face the months ahead.

Our baby is due at the end of July 2026.

We are asking for help so that we can cover living costs, previous medical expenses, and the financial strain of both of us being unable to work. Anything helps. Your support will also help me, his wife, through the year ahead as we navigate what is coming and try to stay afloat.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for any help you can offer. It means more than we can express.