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Supporting Matt Wilkie & his young family to fight cancer

  • Matt's progress on unfunded treatment

      21 May 2022
    Posted by: Caylee Wilkie
    Main image

    Hi everyone,

    Life has been busy but we wanted to update you all. Chemo stopped working for Matt in December after 12 rounds so in January, he started on the unfunded treatment option. This is currently working well and CT results show that it has managed to keep Matt's cancer stable. We have almost finished paying for our portion of the drug costs before these get taken over by the drug companies. We have paid just over $25,000 for the cetuximab itself plus fortnightly hospital fees for this to be administered. As for the encorafenib tablets, these have cost us around $36,000 with one more month to pay at almost $9000. Once the drug companies begin to cover the cost of the drugs, our ongoing costs will be the administration of the cetuximab infusion and the courier cost for the encorafenib tablets which come from Australia.

    Without your help, we would have struggled to come up with this money ourselves and this treatment may not have been an option. It is coming up 1 year since Matt's diagnosis and we are very lucky to have him still here with us after a grim prognosis in the beginning. Although we are unsure of what the future holds, we are staying positive and focusing on our time together with our two boys (who are now 15 months old and almost 4 years old).

    Thank you from the bottom of our hearts ❤️

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  • Latest CT results

      4 December 2021
    Posted by: Caylee Wilkie

    We had an appointment with Matt’s oncologist yesterday to get the CT results re. his cancer. The scan showed that Matt’s cancer is considered to be stable overall. There was slight growth in nodules around his lungs but nothing significant enough for us to change treatment course just yet. His next round of chemo (round 11) is on Monday with another CT scan in 4 weeks.

    We have discussed the next course of treatment for Matt as this will need to begin quite quickly once we realise chemo is no longer keeping the cancer under control. This treatment will be unfunded and undertaken in a private hospital as unfunded medications cannot be administered in public hospitals. The treatment will consist of Cetuximab infusions on a weekly basis and taking daily encorafenib tablets.

    We have been given the approximate costs for each drug. The Cetuximab infusions will incur a weekly cost for the drug and then the hospital admin fee on top of that. The Cetuximab infusions will cost a maximum of $22,000 for the drug itself, once we reach this the drug company covers the cost of the drug but we will still be paying for the drug to be administered at the private hospital. The encorafenib tablets will incur a cost for the drug as well as a courier fee as they come from Auckland. The tablets cost $8000 per month and after 5 months the drug company will cover the costs from then on, apart from the courier cost. We are very grateful to have so many amazing people donate money to our give a little so that this treatment is an option for us. The drugs alone will be costing us around $62,000 and then there will also be admin fees on top of this.

    For the time being, we continue on with the first line chemo and Matt will be closely monitored. We are planning on spending our Xmas break in Gisborne with family and going on our annual camping trip up in Anaura Bay. ❤️

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    • 10/12/2021 by Jason

      Still devastated to hear that Matt has to go through this, and the family also. Matt always put a smile on my face even through second long interactions by yelling some misheard song lyrics out of his window everytime we passed each other!

      I hope that you're in high spirits despite is all Wilkie and that you enjoy your time in Gisborne over the holidays. I did hope to be there myself, but the boarders aren't fully open til Jan 17th.

      Thinking of you, and always with a smile on my face because I've honestly never witnessed you in a poor mood. You have an incredible character which I'm sure is what has led to you starting your beautiful family. <3 Much love Matt!

    • 22/05/2022 by Scott Dixon

      Great news that he’s still with us, hopefully the new budget for pharmac includes better funding for these medications. Best luck and much love to you all.

  • Time to share some incredibly positive news!

      22 September 2021
    Posted by: Caylee Wilkie

    Matt has had 6 rounds of funded chemo so far and last week it was time for a CT scan to check on how things are looking internally.

    We are so thrilled to share that there has been global shrinkage in Matt’s cancer, further proof that the chemo is working!! Matt is continuing to get his strength back and can now do many of the activities he used to do pre-cancer. He has been back at work most days and returned to his volunteer fire fighting duties, something he really loves.

    Harrison and Ben are loving having their Dad be able to play with them like he used to and this good news comes right in time for Harrison’s 3rd birthday at the end of this week. Life is good ❤️

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  • Some positive news!

      31 August 2021
    Posted by: Caylee Wilkie

    Matt has just completed his fifth round of funded chemo and we are very lucky that it has made a massive difference so far. Before starting chemo, the cancer in Matt’s lungs was having a severe impact on his breathing and he was constantly coughing. He could barely make it from the bedroom to the lounge without getting short of breath. Thanks to treatment, he is now able to do many of the normal day to day activities he used to do - including playing with the kids again, much to their delight! After months of roadblocks and bad news it has been nice to see Matt improve so drastically and have him back to his happy self.

    Testing has been carried out to determine the specific mutation of Matt’s cancer and the course of unfunded treatment that will be most effective. We are thrilled to say we have an option (cetuximab) and this will be Matt’s next line of treatment if/when the chemo stops working. We have put the money aside to use when the time comes. Thank you again for making this option possible for us, we are so grateful to be able to explore all treatments available.

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    • 01/09/2021 by Murray

      Hello Caylee and Matt! We were thrilled of course to read today of the improvements you have made Matt. What a champion you are and how good to be playing with your wee boys. The beer will be tasting a lot better too i imagine? Great news, all our best wishes to you all.

      Murray and Linda Barclay

    • 02/09/2021 by Scott Dixon

      That’s good news! Best of luck to you all!

  • A massive thank you!

      3 July 2021
    Posted by: Caylee Wilkie

    We are so overwhelmed and grateful for all of the love and support we have received on this journey so far. This is not a journey we ever wished to take and there are many unknowns in the near future.

    Matt started chemo yesterday and he will need to complete a few rounds before we know if it is helping. Thanks to your kind and generous donations, we will be able to explore many treatment options should this one not pan out as we hope. These funds also help to alleviate some financial stress and allow us to focus on spending time together as a family.

    The road ahead is a tough one but we will hopefully have some more positive news to share soon ❤️

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