Our efforts to honor the brave and bitter battle Katie gamely fought, memorialize her remarkable life, and save others from preventable death have refined and intensified. The timeline that informs this effort and our path forward, follows:
• In 2016 during a routine examination by Katie’s dermatologist, a small lesion was identified, biopsied, and tested. It was positive for melanoma and following standard protocol was surgically excised, tissue margins biopsied, and lymph nodes tested. With negative results she was deemed clear of melanoma.
• In the spring of 2021, Katie was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma. For 15 months Katie endured a desperate regimen of experimental and clinically innovative interventions. Among this barrage of painful and debilitating treatments, she was drained of her immune “T” cells, which were subsequently retrained and mobilized against her disease.
• Melanoma is a serious and deadly disease but is entirely treatable if caught early. According to initial standard protocols in Katie’s case, only annual dermatological exams were prescribed.
So, what happened?
Of the 100,000 melanoma cases the American Cancer Society estimates will be diagnosed in 2024, 8% will be lethal. Oncologists must be able to distinguish patients with treatable melanoma vs. those whose melanoma may be of the lethal variety where standard protocols are insufficient. Research is essential to characterize these lethal melanomas at the molecular level and identify prognostic and predictive biomarkers. Recognizing these unique patients early will enable physicians to administer more aggressive therapies and monitor them more vigorously.
With funds raised thus far - and with additional funds raised with your continued support - we intend to establish a two-year $200,000 grant for lethal melanoma research through the Melanoma Research Foundation. Together, we can change follow up care and surveillance protocols to prevent the metastatic spread Katie experienced.
We invite you to be an active part of this effort, and to extend this opportunity to others in your networks for whom this investment may be meaningful.
She is our guiding light; our pillar of strength and character and she will always be the bravest and most courageous person we have ever known. Her love and affection lives on through Claire and Jack who will always feel her presence. - Steve and Sally Meyers
Read More about Katie's Story HERE!
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