Cancer treatment tops Christmas wishlist
Seven months ago, Roy Nugter doubted he would be around to put his family’s sparkling giant Santa hat on the front door this year.
“I’m not confident I’ll still be here by Christmas, but I’m going to try,” he said at the time. Now, with Christmas around the corner, the cancerstricken husband and father is looking forward to watching his family unwrap presents underneath their tree in celebration.
Nugter, 60, has been battling a rare cancer since 2018.
The Katikati man was diagnosed with stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the lungs aged 55.
“It’s over five years now since the diagnosis. There’s no reason it can’t be longer. That’s such precious time,” he said.
Doctors gave him less than a year to live without treatment, or one to three years with chemotherapy.
When the chemotherapy finally stopped working, Nugter and his family set out to try “miracle” drug Keytruda but found its $ 100,000 price tag for a full course out of reach.
Pharmac funds Keytruda — a medicine that uses a person’s immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells — for some cancers, within certain eligibility criteria.
Some skin and lung cancers are included, but not Nugter’s type.
The family turned to the community for help. Through the kindness of strangers via a Givealittle page, the family raised more than $ 65,000 in two years.
With efforts from wife Debbie, son Kobie and an indefatigable network of friends, the family ran garage sales, fairs and leaflet drops to raise another $ 20,000.
“If you’d asked me way back then if I’d get the money, I’d say, ‘ probably not but I’d fight for it anyway’,” he said.
The money meant Nugter was able to start treatment in June, sooner than expected, and as of early December had completed eight rounds.
“I’m not giving up. You can’t give up.”
In the weeks following that first Keytruda treatment, his tumours shrank, he lost his “chemo weight”, regained his hair and found he had energy to kick a ball around with Kobie again.
“I feel so much better. I’m out playing bowls again. I’m working in the shed, making stuff for my boy. I feel hugely better. It’s made an amazing difference,” he said.
But the battle is not over yet. This month, Nugter said he needed another $ 12,000 to help fund one more round of Keytruda and the associated administration costs.
He, Debbie, Kobie and friends spent a recent Sunday distributing 1300 flyers on people’s cars at Bayfair and Tauriko shopping centres asking for help.
Leaflet drops were one of the ways they have managed to raise money so far.
Once Nugter had paid for nine rounds of Keytruda, any subsequent treatments were funded by the Government, he said. However, he was still required to pay administration fees of about $ 2000 for each round.
Roy said doctors had told him he would likely need 12 to 16 rounds before they could determine whether Keytruda had been a success or whether he would need to start another course.
He was focusing on reaching 12 and hoping the $ 12,000 would get him there.
“I have a feeling we will be fine,” he said.
Originally Nugter was advised to wait until he had enough money for a full course of Keytruda, usually 10 rounds, but deteriorating health prompted swifter action.
He said the past year had been a “huge journey” and especially hard on Debbie and their friends.
A crucial motivation in his fight was to stay alive long enough to see his young son grow up.
Words could not express how grateful he was to still be here because of people’s generosity.
“I still look at the fact that people have given me their hard- earned money to give me life, and time with my boy. That makes a huge amount of difference.” Bay of Plenty Times
I feel so much better. I’m out playing bowls again. I’m working in the shed, making stuff for my boy.
Roy Nugter