Help David receive life saving cancer medication

Thank you for visiting David’s Page.   ****Please share****


I am raising money to help my cousin David who is a devoted, family man, friend, and colleague to many.  He won’t admit it, but I think he could do with some support at the moment. 

He has kindly provided us with an insight into his battle with Stage 4 Lung Cancer.

He has a difficult journey ahead, and I hope that with kindness, help, and the generosity of others, we can help ease some of his burden. 

Thank you in advance  for taking the time to read his story.......................



"Hi there Family and Friends.

I never thought that I would be the subject of a ‘Go fund me page’, but having learnt, as many of us have in 2020, hurdles can become quite large and sometimes you need a bit of a helping hand to get over them.

Most of you are already aware that in May 2018 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at which time my world turned upside down. After a failed attempt to have the tumour surgically removed due to disease progression, I finally commenced chemo in September 2018 and have continued to undergo various forms of chemo and immunotherapy to slow the progression of the disease.

Then, the bad news. On 15/06/2020, I was told that the cancer had spread to several spots up and down my spine, ribs, hip, shoulder blade and liver.  I was shattered.

It’s all very raw, and whilst I'm still coming to terms with it, my Oncologist has recommended targeted therapy treatment for me. This time I will still receive IV immunotherapy on a 3 weekly basis and additionally, have been prescribed Dabrafenib in combination with Trametinib drugs, that have shown to work positively against the BRAF V600E mutation type cancer I have.

Unfortunately,  the catalyst for the existence of this page, is these 2 drugs are only covered by the PBS for melanoma, not metastatic lung cancer. Although at a reduced rate, these drugs are going to cost my family and I just under $4500 per month for the first three months under a subsidy.

(N.B.  After the first three months, the cost incurred for further treatments from these drugs are at a non-subsidised amount of $15,468.00 per month.)


https://www.curemelanoma.org/patient-eng/melanoma-treatment/combination-therapy-for-melanoma/dabrafenib-tafinlar-trametinib-mekinist/ 


(N.B.  These drugs, Dabrafenib and Trametinib are types of cancer growth blockers. They work by targeting certain proteins that help cancer cells grow. By blocking these proteins, this combination of drugs stops or slows down the growth of cancer cells.)

Whilst I've yet to receive any sort of prognosis I feel that I may be approaching the last opportunity to save, or prolong my life in the use of these drugs. It has become exceptionally tough for my family and I and to be honest, I'm struggling to come to terms with it all.  Life, with or without me from a financial perspective at the very least is difficult to determine. I want to make sure that I live the rest of my life in happiness, enjoying time with my family.

I also need to make sure that my family, in particular my wife, can rest easy that once I’m gone, she will remain financially stable. This starts now with the costs being incurred with this medication, and the other out of pocket expenses we are responsible for during my treatment.

I thank you all for being there for me and considering the request this page is making, at the very least. There is no obligation, I know that a lot of us have been doing it tough this year.


Love to you all


Dave. "

 




****THANK YOU AGAIN FOR VISITING DAVID'S PAGE****

All donations raised will go towards ongoing costs of monthly medical treatments.  It is unknown how many treatments will be required as this will need to be assessed by David's Oncologists.  

Let's join together to help make David's journey that little bit easier.

You've got this David.