An Ontario mother with terminal cancer has gone public with her plea for the province to fund a drug that could prolong her life.
Kimm Fletcher, 41, was diagnosed in 2010 with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain cancer. She went into remission, but last summer the cancer returned. Her diagnosis is now advanced stage four. She was told by doctors there was little hope, and has been given two months to live.
“It’s the worse thing I’ve ever had to do. Tell my children I’m dying,” Fletcher told Global News.
But the drug Avastin could give her another year, doctors say. The problem is that six months of treatment costs about $48,000 and it's only funded by the Ontario health care system for colorectal cancer. But it is funded for residents of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia by their provincial health care programs, Sun News reports.
That extra year is precious to Fletcher, who is mom to Martie, 7, and Keidon, 9. She met with Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews on Wednesday to make a case for the province to fund Avastin for her and other cancer patients.
But she left the meeting without any promises of funding.
“I did tell her I did not want to leave her with false hope," Matthews told The Toronto Star.
Fletcher says her family will continue their fundraising efforts to find the money to pay for the drug.
“If I knew I could make it to my daughter’s communion in June, that would be fantastic,” she told Global News. “I’m not giving up. Everybody dies but I’m not planning on doing that anytime soon.”
To make a donation to help Kimm pay for the Avastin treatments go to gofundme.com.