'If it was my child, I'd be using it.’: A Strathroy family is faced with paying their own way for immunotherapy
Last November, 24-year-old Kyle McPhee was diagnosed with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, "It started in my liver and it's, kind of, spread to other parts. Mostly pockets in my lungs."
The cancer targets young people with normal liver function and no known risk factors. It is extremely rare.
"Maybe two thousand people in the world,” said Kim McPhee, Kyle’s mom. “In Canada, maybe 200 a year. They can't get studies because there aren't enough people."
That's the catch for the McPhee family. They've been told by Kyle’s oncologist and other health professionals that immunotherapy may be the best course of action for Kyle. However, there hasn't been any research about the effectiveness of the treatment on the form of cancer he has.
It has worked for other rare forms of cancer. That’s why Kyle’s dad, Paul, was puzzled when he learned his family couldn’t get funding approval through OHIP.
"Our oncologist said to us, 'If it was my child, I'd be using it,’" said Paul.
The funding approval would be for two drugs, Atezolizumab and Bevacizumab, used in combination for the immunotherapy treatment.
They are treatments, Paul McPhee revealed, that cost $9,000 per session.
"It's when it's expensive, like this one, they have to go through an approval process, get financing for it and it's like… yeah,” he added.
The McPhee's are now trying to raise enough money on their own for four treatments over four months, hoping that a $36,000 investment will show promise and open the door to at least partial OHIP funding for ongoing treatments.
Kyle admitted there are no guarantees with the strategy, "There's still the chance that, even if it does work, they would still say no. That's kind of... That doesn't make much sense to me."
In the interim, Kyle's aunt has started a GoFundMe page and Kyle is undergoing chemotherapy.
As for what's next? Paul McPhee chokes back his emotions when that question is raised.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.