Opinion, by Troy Elliott
April 3, 2014 was the worst day of my life. It was the day my wife was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. A day that now rivals this in emotion is May 30, 2019. On diagnosis, I was told Tracey only had about 12 days to live, then I was told multiple times she may not get through 24 hours. To see my beloved wife go through brain surgery, lung surgery and over 60 rounds of chemotherapy and never once complain is both uplifiting and heartbreaking at the same time.
As the true warrior princess Tracey is, she survived the night, only for us to be told that this time it is inoperable, and the only option is a drug called Kadcyla. This drug is $8,867.63 every three weeks. Earlier in the month, a group of cancer patients and advocates presented petitions on the steps of parliament to MPs from every party. I was one of those advocates. Wednesday June 5 is my wife's second round of Kadcyla. It is also our 19th wedding anniversary. I hope that we have many more, but If I was to rely on Pharmac, I think I would be tragically wrong.
