[ad_1]
With a caring wife, five daughters, and eight grandchildren, Tony Sullivan has something to fight for.
But extending your life in the battle against bowel cancer will cost your family tens of thousands of dollars.
In 2018, Sullivan, now 54, was diagnosed with stage three cancer.
They told him the cancer had stopped spreading, but on his birthday, May 8 of this year, word came that it had spread to his lungs and liver and was now classified as stage four.
Sullivan’s symptoms began when he was 47 years old, but medical professionals attributed it to hemorrhoids.
After multiple surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy, her family is desperate for longer.
That, however, comes at a hefty price tag of around $ 50,000.
READ MORE:
* Ask Pharmac to finance better drugs against intestinal diseases
* Keith Marshall dies of bowel cancer shortly after requesting an earlier evaluation
* Radio host Michael Kooge says unfunded drug has shrunk his brain tumor
Avastin (bevacizumab) and Erbitux (cetuximab), both unfunded in New Zealand, can double or even triple the median survival rate of metastatic bowel cancer patients, according to a medical adviser.
Patients may receive an additional 30 to 40 months if they take any of the chemotherapy drugs.
MARK TAYLOR / THINGS
From left to right: Nicole and Denise Sullivan, Michelle Stevens, Tony, Mia, Monique and Shania Sullivan. Tony and his wife with their five daughters.
Sullivan is preparing for his first two-month round on Avastin, costing about $ 25,000. After your second round is complete, the price drops to administration costs of around $ 1,000 a fortnight.
As long as the medicine continues to stop the spread, Sullivan can take it for as long as it takes.
“It’s a lot of money, but when I leave I don’t want to leave my wife with nothing, so we started a Givealittle page,” he said.
“It has been very difficult.
“I don’t remember much of the first year because I was in and out of the hospital for drugs.”
Sullivan urged people to get tested.
“Don’t wait until you’re 50 or 60, the age range is getting smaller and smaller. Nobody ever wants to talk about intestinal problems, but it is very important. “
MARK TAYLOR / Stuff
Tony Sullivan was told that his cancer had not spread. But he found out on his birthday that that wasn’t the case.
Sullivan’s eldest daughter, Michelle Stevens, 34, began raising funds to help with the $ 50,000 anticipated drug bill.
It’s about prolonging your life with chemotherapy, he said.
“Everyone’s life is worth it, you can’t be humble about these things. Dad has never asked anyone for anything, so I had to ask for him, ”Stevens said.
“We were told that chemotherapy is the cake and Avastin is the icing.
“When you’re living it, you see why drugs are so important, so why can’t they finance it?”
Bowel Cancer New Zealand Medical Advisor Dr. Dragon Damianovich has been advocating for more than 10 years for that to happen.
“Avastin has been funded in other countries for over ten years, and at the same time I have been advocating for Avastin and Erbitux to be funded here as well,” he said.
But he doesn’t think that will ever happen.
MARK TAYLOR / Stuff
Michelle (red dress on left) created a Givealittle page to help fund the $ 50,000 it costs to pay for the unfunded drug, Avastin.
“All global guidelines advocate for drugs to be the drugs to use for bowel cancer patients. But it will never be funded in New Zealand. ”
Bowel cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand, yet Avastin has been turned down numerous times for funding, he said.
“People who can pay for a drug can live longer. This urgently needs to change.
Australia is the top of the Western world, he said, because of his organized research. They have more patients in trials and access to new drugs long before it is formally funded.
“We are not even close to that. We have a very rigid structure here that does not allow new drugs to enter, and they can be more costly for us because we are not contributing to global clinical pharmacological research as much as other countries in the world.
According to Pharmac, there is one open application for funding from Avastin for first-line treatment and four applications for funding from Erbitux for different indications of bowel cancer.
COO Lisa Williams said the Cancer Treatment Subcommittee did not recommend funding for the drugs and one was given medium priority
Pharmac worked to get the best results for New Zealanders within its budget, Williams said. But this means that careful financing decisions need to be made for the benefit of all New Zealanders.
Pharmac has a different model from the rest of the world, so “New Zealand is not directly comparable with other countries.
“While we recognize the challenges that patients and their whānau face, and their understandable desire to try new treatments, our job is to review all the evidence and make a decision that is in the interest of all New Zealanders.”
The National Party announced Wednesday how it would spend $ 788 million on health care over four years.
One policy included a new border agency, a funding push of $ 50 million a year for cancer drugs and a new medical school.
Pharmac would also get an additional $ 5 million a year to purchase treatments for rare disorders.
