Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Forced to take Credit Union loan to fund life giving cancer drugs
Terminally ill mum’s desperate bid to qualify for wonder treatment
A TERMINALLY ill mum has been forced to use a Credit Union loan to fund a revolutionary life-lengthening drug.
Sinead Joyce was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and received the devastating news in 2015 she had secondary cancer.
The disease was held at bay until this summer when she was told it was starting to spread.
The mum of two, from Lagmore in West Belfast, was hopeful to hear wonder drug Palbociclib could buy her time.
It has been hailed as one of the most important advances for treating breast cancer in the past 20 years.
However, Sinead was told women like her, who have previously tried hormone treatment, are not eligible for Palbociclib under National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
She did not qualify as only women who are newly diagnosed with an advanced form of the disease may avail of the treatment in Northern Ireland.
Desperately fighting for her life, Sinead has bought a one-month prescription for £2,950 using borrowed money.
And she is angry to be in such a desperate bid to see her sons Conor and Pearse through their education.
Sinead added: “I was offered chemotherapy, which would only extend my life for a couple of months.
“There was no way I would accept that if those were going to be the last memories for my children.
“Then I heard Palbociclib could extend my life for longer with some people in the US surviving for a couple of years.
“But under NICE guidelines it can only be prescribed for a new patient with secondary breast cancer.
“I had Credit Union money to get my bathroom done so I thought I would use that for my first month.
“I am trying to save my life here so I don’t want to accept what is, in my opinion, a second-class drug.
“It would be a different situation if it was not licensed but other people who are coming behind me are getting it.
“A year or two down the line it might be available for women like me, but I do not have two years to wait.”
Sinead, who worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children for 24 years, also said she was overwhelmed after a Gofundme appeal launched by her friends has raised more than £12,500.
They said: “Sinead is very courageous and is determined to fight this decision.”
To donate visit www.gofundme.com/ sinead-joyce-appeal.
I am trying to save my life here so I won’t accept a secondclass drug SINEAD JOYCE WEST BELFAST YESTERDAY