STANDING WITH KATIE IN HER FIGHT AGAINST MELANOMA

We would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read Katie’s story and her fight with Melanoma.

Katie Walker is a wonderful friend to everyone who knows her. She has an incredibly big heart and is known for her kindness, honesty, and resilience. The list of amazing qualities she possesses could go on and on. Simply put, Katie is everything you could hope for in a friend and so much more.

For those who would like to better understand Katie’s journey, we’ve included a timeline of her diagnosis, treatments, and major milestones below.

Our dear friend is currently fighting melanoma and doing everything possible to continue the treatment that is helping keep the cancer under control. Unfortunately, a recent change in insurance coverage has made that treatment extremely difficult to afford.

As of January 1, 2026, Kaiser stopped covering the medications until the yearly deductible of $4,000 is met. The medications required for treatment—Drafenib and Trametinib—cost approximately $500 per month out of pocket. Like many people, she is living paycheck to paycheck, and the sudden cost has created an overwhelming financial burden.

Because of this, Katie is faced with the heartbreaking possibility of stopping the treatment once her current supply runs out.

Determined to keep fighting, Katie met with her oncologist to ask if there were any assistance programs available. Unfortunately, she was told there was nothing that she was qualified for. Refusing to give up, Katie has spent countless hours researching programs and making phone calls to try to find financial help to continue her treatment.

The oncologist stressed that restarting the therapy as soon as possible is critical—delaying treatment could make the medications less effective.

Katie has already endured a long and difficult journey with chemotherapy and its side effects, even experiencing some rare complications along the way. Despite these challenges, she has continued to face everything with incredible strength and determination.

Our hope is to help Katie restart and successfully complete her treatment protocol. The current plan requires one full year of therapy. Because she had to take a one-month break due to financial constraints, the treatment timeline has now been extended through December 2026.

Of course, everything depends on the results of her quarterly PET scans, which help monitor how well the treatment is working. Her next scan is scheduled for April, and we are all hoping and praying for positive results.

We are starting this fundraiser to help cover the cost of these life-saving medications and ensure Katie can continue the treatment she urgently needs. Every donation, no matter the size, will go directly toward medication costs and medical expenses.

If you’re unable to donate, sharing this page would mean the world to us. Your support, prayers, and kindness help remind them they are not fighting this battle alone.

With your support, we hope to relieve some of the financial burden so Katie can focus on what matters most—continuing her treatment and healing.

Here is the timeline:

-Noticed a mole-like growth on her back during covid. In 2024, it became ulcerated and a dermatology appointment was made. On May 2nd 2024, she presented her appointment. The dermatology team was worried and decided it should be removed and sent out for biopsy that same day.

-She received the news of her cancer diagnosis and was scheduled for surgery 06/05.

-She was unable to take time off from work due to financial limitations and returned to work immediately after surgery on 06/09.

-The site was not healing properly and the site dehisced; due to working in ER was not able to follow the modified duty restrictions and in turn, Kaiser placed her on a mandatory leave from work 06/26 to 07/09.

-Once the site healed, she was cleared to start her first immunotherapy. Keytruda is an IV administered every three weeks for a total of 18 treatments with blood work performed 1-2 days before each treatment. Her first treatment was 07/26.

She tolerated the therapy pretty well at first, but then came the typical side effects: fatigue, body rashes, headaches, lightheadedness, poor thermoregulation (always cold).

-In mid September, she started to feel the side effects more intensely; especially at work. She applied for a short term leave of absence at just the right time. She couldn’t eat, became so weak that she was mostly bedridden. She lost 13 pounds in just two weeks.

-Her oncology team decided to delay treatment to allow her body time to recover. She slowly started to feel better with supportive medications (IV fluids, zofran, etc.) and she was finally able to keep food down and eat a little bit more. She returned to work, in a different department and continued to improve.

-January 2025: Around her 8th infusion (YAY, I AM HALFWAY FINISHED!) Or so she thought. They performed routine scans and found concern for metastasis. This led to multiple ultrasounds; including an endoscopic one.

-It was confirmed in Feb. 2025 that she had developed metastasis to her gallbladder which is a very rare location of spread. She had failed this treatment. Surgery was not recommended at this time and she was to start on a treatment which would be a dual therapy.

-She started Nivolumab and Ipilimumab on Feb. 21 and this was to be given intravenously every three weeks. If she had a good response to this treatment, her oncologist advised her that they could consider surgery for gallbladder removal. They would recheck imaging after two treatments to evaluate response. She was advised this protocol had some pretty scary side effects, but she elected to move forward anyway. She immediately developed side effects; the usual vomiting, fatigue, and weakness. However, she started to get debilitating headaches around March 3rd. She did have a previous history of migraines, it was assumed this was the case or dehydration.

-She was administered IV fluids and even made a trip to the ER but unfortunately nothing helped relieve the pain. She would have pain/ pressure when she bent over, coughed, sneezed, laughed. She was unable to sleep.

-She pushed for more diagnostics; they found out that she had developed adrenal insufficiency and lymphocytic hypophysitis (the treatment destroyed my pituitary and thyroid glands). Approximately one percent of people on this same treatment develop this. She will now be on lifelong medication to treat these conditions.

-She continued with treatment and had another scan and despite treatment, her gall bladder mass had grown. She , thankfully, did not have any further metastasis.

-Her liver values were now elevated, unsure if this was due to cancer or the therapy. Her oncologist advised a liver biopsy was required prior to gallbladder removal. Kaiser was unable to perform both procedures the same day and she ended up doing them a week apart.

-Her gallbladder was finally removed June 12th.

-Her liver values continued to stay elevated but slowly started to decrease and finally returned to normal in November.

Her liver values needed to be under control before she could start another protocol. She also needed to start therapy within three months of surgery, or it would not be effective.

-She started Dabrafenib and Trametinib November 13th and experienced the typical side effects, but they have been minimal compared to the other treatments