Help Stephen get necessary treatment for his cancer!

Stephen is still the funny guy you all know! However with limited time we are desperately looking for funding for urgent treatment for Stephen's cancer. Times have been hard for Stephen and his Family, and we are are all extremely grateful for the ongoing support we continue to receive. Please help us get the funding we need for a loving Dad, Husband and friend.

Stephen has progressive multiple myeloma. It is a nasty cancer that affects bone marrow and causes widespread bone disease. Sadly, his illness has become refractory (no longer responsive) to standard therapies. The disease in his spine has progressed, causing pressure on his spinal cord and rendering him paraplegic, despite radiotherapy.

This change in his mobility status meant that he was taken off the list for a clinical trial which included the use of a new immunotherapy medication (details below*). Despite new and promising monoclonal antibody therapies being approved now in the USA for treatment of “refractory” multiple myeloma, these drugs are still not available on the “free” list for patients like Stephen, in New Zealand or Australia.

Clinical trials (for which Stephen no longer qualifies), private funding or, rarely and under very special circumstances, compassionate access programs are the only means currently available for accessing the new treatments. Unfortunately, there is no time to wait for these uncertain options to come about.

The financial burden of obtaining and administering the new treatments is prohibitive and untenable for Stephen’s family. Even if compassionate access is possible, the cost of care delivery and infusion is still very high.

Crowdfunding is a way that we can all support Stephen’s and Sarah’s wish to try immunotherapy in the hope of extending Stephen’s life. We also hope to ease the financial burden of any increased home-care needs he may have, over and above the local palliative care service that Stephen is currently receiving at home.

Our hope is that with the participation/contribution of you all, we are able to prolong his life enough to enable new treatments (there is ongoing research and development) to become available, and by so doing, give him continued hope. It will also be a huge help for us, his family, and provide us with the knowledge that we are doing everything we can to help.

* Darzalex (daratumumab), a new monoclonal antibody therapy, is considered the best option for Stephen. To get Stephen started and to give the drug a good chance to work the cost will be NZ$172,000. (For more information, see https://www.darzalex.com).