Unfunded drug last chance at life Boy dies in rural collision
The price tag on Rebekah SandsCade’s life is $5900 a month.
The 32-year-old mother of three has metastatic breast cancer, which is the most advanced stage of breast cancer and has spread to her bones, brain and lungs.
Diagnosed at 29 with no family history of breast cancer, SandsCade, of Longburn, near Palmerston North, was shocked when she got the news.
Her youngest child was only 1 when she was diagnosed and the past three years have been a rollercoaster for the family.
Sands-Cade has been told her cancer has become more aggressive and keeps growing.
Her last chance is a drug called Ibrance, which is currently not publicly funded.
Now the family is trying to find $5900 a month for the medication that could prolong her life.
Her husband, Alan Cade, says the drug itself costs $5000, but GST added another $900.
‘‘If it works and we it, she is going to die.
‘‘You hope you can get two to three years out of it or even more time and if it stops working by then there might be something else to try.’’
Their children, aged 12, 6 and 4, are aware of how dire things are.
They broke the news to them last week and explained how this treatment was her final option.
‘‘They offered me their piggy bank money,’’ Sands-Cade says.
Money is tight as Alan Cade has stopped working to look after his family the past three years.
‘‘If it works you can’t tell your kids and your wife ‘I’m sorry, we’re can’t afford out of money’. We’ll sell everything if we have to,’’ he says.
They had started a Givealittle page, and the community had also got behind the family.
Cade says the support has been amazing, but it was also hard asking for help.
‘‘It’s hard swallowing your pride and asking people for money.’’
But without it, his wife will die.
Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) chairwoman Libby Burgess said in a statement that hundreds of Kiwi women could potentially benefit from Ibrance now it was available.
The drug offers hope for people with advanced hormone receptorpositive and HER2-negative breast cancer, she said. It would give them a better quality of life and more time with their loved ones.
‘‘BCAC and breast cancer patients are desperate to see Pharmac fund Ibrance for use in our public hospitals, and we hope this will happen in the near future.’’
Preliminary clinical evidence for Ibrance was so strong the United States Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked its use. A child has died after being hit by a car in a rural part of the Far North.
The boy was riding a bike on Kimberley Rd, Houhora, when he was hit just before 1:30pm. Police were speaking with the driver.
A resident of the street said she was saddened to hear about the incident, but not surprised.
‘‘There have been a lot of close calls with the idiots that we have screaming down that road. It’s been a long time coming,’’ said Vicky Rawnsley.
Meanwhile up to were involved in a eight vehicles Taupo smash that left a motorcyclist severely injured and about 14 others in hospital yesterday.
It is believed the accident happened when a truck hit the back of another vehicle, which shunted other vehicles – including a minivan – across the road into oncoming traffic.
Police said up to 15 people were taken to hospitals in Tokoroa, Taupo¯ and Hamilton. The motorcyclist, a 24-year-old man from Palmerston North, was flown to Rotorua Hospital with serious injuries. Two others were also flown to hospitals in the region after being cut from the wreckage.
Twelve were in a moderate to minor condition.