Hi all,

As some of you may be aware my sister, Caitlin Toohey, was diagnosed in August 2015 with melanoma which progressed to Stage IV melanoma in the years following. Research and treatment has come so far but the battle for Caitlin is not yet over. Prior to the introduction to new immunotherapies the median survival of patients with advanced melanoma was 11 months. Unfortunately Caitlin was recently forced to stop her immunotherapy treatment due to liver toxicity (a severe side effect of treatment). Therefore, further costly research is necessary to find out why some patients don't respond to immunotherapy and suffer such side effects hindering treatment.

Whilst, there have been unprecedented improvements in survival of patients with Stage IV melanoma, with one-year survival rates increasing from 25% with chemotherapy to now 75% with some treatments; but sadly not all patients are sharing this outcome (either due to side effects or lack of response). Researchers are working towards the goal of zero deaths from melanoma, but they have many hurdles to overcome before reaching this goal.

For those who know her, Caitlin emits light and positive energy into every room she enters. She has an infectious personality and is loved by all who meet her. Caitlin will do anything for anyone and gives new meaning to the word selfless. Our family would LOVE to give back to the Melanoma Institute as they take care of what is the most important thing to us, CAITLIN.

We hope you all join "Caitlin's crew" and show her how much she means to you whilst also contributing to the MIA, to allow Georgina Long and her team to continue with their pioneering research and their incredibly high standard of care. Georgina Long and her team go above and beyond to ensure Caitlin receives access to the best treatment available, whilst providing Caitlin with regular costly scans free of charge allowing Caitlin to manage her diagnosis. In addition to this, Caitlin is given continuous support and can text her Melanoma Nurse whenever she is sick or is concerned in any way (shoutout to Kate Willis). This wouldn't be possible without the funds MIA receive from fundraisers like these!

We hope to see you all at Manly for a lovely walk with great friends


P.S. This is a slightly out-dated news article now but provides a good summary of Caitlin's journey if anyone is interested give it a read: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/melanoma-march-2018-how-caitlin-toohey-thought-her-melanoma-was-actually-a-pimple/news-story/697de58e8e24a4b733e8b37b3a08d3f5

P.S.S Caitlin just received some GREAT NEWS that since her most recent surgery 3 months ago that no cancer has regrown :) :) :)