I am addicted to living and my habit is costing me thousands of dollars a month.
I have a rare cancer (likely the only person in Canada) and chemotherapy didn't work. — only a 20 per cent chance of that working anyway. The cancer had spread and I was in pain when I took my first hit of immunotherapy. That first treatment was a bit of a tease and when it came down to paying for it, I had trouble justifying the expense. My health insurance hadn't come through and the province told me that because my rare cancer was not on the formulary (a list of drugs that the province funds – with caveats – for cancer treatment) they wouldn't either.
I didn't find out about that last bit of information until I was sitting in the chemo chair for my second treatment, arm wrapped in a warm towel in preparation for the IV. I was crying as I unwrapped my arm and got out of the chair. I told the oncology nurse I wouldn't be back and called a friend to drive me home.
But then I started to feel better – better than I had felt in months! I wondered if it was the result a result of the immunotherapy. Six weeks after I walked away from the oncology clinic, I got my next fix.
Eventually I will run out of money and the treatment will stop. I'm lucky though; some people are not able to find the money to fund their cancer treatment, and die. Access to cancer drugs should not be based on cost but on patient need. Some cancer patients are asked how much their life is worth. Well right now, my life is worth $7,000 a month. And I will just have to see how much longer I can finance my addiction.
Lucy Morkunas,
Shamrock
