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Help a young father in his fight against stage 4 cancer

  • July update

      24 July 2026
    Posted by: Vaughn Rankin

    Hi everyone, just sending an update for this month.

    My latest CT scan was very promising. The cancer has shrunk to the point where it's no longer visable in the scan, although it is still there, just a lot smaller. It’s a better result then we were expecting and most likely due to the unfunded treatment from the Breakwater Trial that was done last year. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, which has allowed us to pay for this treatment.

    My oncologist has told me that if the chemo continues to manage the cancer for a year then I will be able to get HIPEC surgery, which is a really intense surgery but is my best chance of getting cured. So hopefully I'll be able to get that in March next year. It seems like such a long time to wait, but this year has already gone very quickly.

    One difficulty we've had recently is the Thursday before last, I caught a gastro virus which was going around Zacs daycare. Due to my low immunity I ended up in the hospital for a week! I was released on Monday and am feeling much better now. Due to this, my treatments have been delayed a week so my next session will be next Wednesday.

    This year has been difficult, but Dani and I have found comfort in all the support we've been getting. Thank you to those who have been visiting us and helping us in various ways from donating money and bringing us food to helping with the kids and even just checking in on us. We really appreciate it.

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  • June update

      15 June 2026
    Posted by: Vaughn Rankin

    Hi all,

    I'm 7 sessions through treatment so far and thought I would give an update.

    I've been told that for my funded treatment, after 12 sessions I'll stop part of it (the Oxaliplatin) which causes the most side effects and takes the longest to administer (2 hours). I'll stay on the rest though, as well as the unfunded treatment for as long as it works. It also looks like I may have to have a reduction in Oxaliplatin shortly because my blood platelets are getting low. This shouldn't be a problem though.

    For now, my scan from April looks pretty good and show that the cancer is being managed this far and has not spread. This was a big relief as there was concern that it might have spread to my lungs. Thankfully, this wasn't the case. I'll be getting another scan at the end of this month. Our biggest hope is that the cancer will continue to be managed for 6 to 12 months and I'll be approved for HIPEC surgery.

    Aside from that, the only big change is that the unfunded medication has effected my skin, so I need to wear sunscreen and moisturizer every day as well as get skin checks regularly. I'm getting some moles removed early next month.

    Thank you all again for the support. There's a lot to deal with but we're taking it one day at a time and are thankful that the treatment seems to be effective so far.

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  • Financial Update

      1 May 2026
    Posted by: Vaughn Rankin
    Main image

    Hi everyone,

    We’ve had a few people asking us how our finances are going so far and what we are expecting.

    The unfunded treatment consists of Encorafenib & Cetuximab. The Encorafenib costs us $8,739 every 4 weeks (we’ve made 2 payments of this so far). The Cetuximab costs us $4,173.35 every 4 weeks (we’ve made 1 payment of this with the next coming soon). So for now we’ve paid $21,651.35.

    After we’ve paid a total of $30,000 for Cetuximab and $43,445 for Encorafenib, then the cap is reached & they will be free going forward. So all up we’ll be paying $73,445 for the drugs.

    Then there are the Oncology Management fees. My insurance from work covers this until it reaches $60,000 (per year). These fees alternate between $4,244.39 and $3,323.39 every fortnight. We’ve worked out that my insurance will reach the cap at the end of December, which means we’ll need to pay this from 23rd December to the 30 April (then my insurance will roll over). This is assuming I’ll be on this treatment without any breaks which might not be the case, but we don’t know for now.

    So in summary, we’re preparing to pay $73,445 within the next few months, and then another $37,838.90 between December and April. So far we’ve paid $21,651.35.

    Dani and I want to thank you all again for the huge contribution in helping us handle this financial burden. We’ve been constantly overwhelmed with the amount of support.

    Chemotherapy is going well and I’m handling it without much side effects. 4 sessions down!

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  • End of March update

      27 March 2026
    Posted by: Vaughn Rankin

    Hi everyone, I'm cross-posting from facebook so apologies if you've already read this.

    I wanted to give an update on how we’ve been going. As of last week, I’ve managed to get my weight back up (from 68kg to over 78kg) and have had my first round of chemotherapy. It went really well and I didn’t have too many bad side effects. It was mostly just fatigue in the evenings and a little bit of anxiety. Most of the side effects were negated by all the medicine I was given.

    Other than that, I feel really good, pretty much the same as before all this malarky started. I’ve been able to get some exercise in and resume work. My next chemo session is on the 1st April which will include the start of the unfunded treatment as well.

    Dani and I really want to thank everyone for all of the incredible support and donations, which has helped relieve some of the financial burdens we’re facing. We’ve been overwhelmed with how kind and giving people have been. Alongside the donations, we’ve also really appreciated the loving messages, the ready-made dinners, and the help around the house and with the kids. We feel so fortunate to have such a great support system around us. It’s made a huge difference. Thank you so much!

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