Jason Hooker and son Mikes, of Hastings. Mikes fought his own battle with cancer from 2016, while Jason has only recently begun his. Photo / Warren Buckland
Jason Hooker and son Mikes, of Hastings. Mikes fought his own battle with cancer from 2016, while Jason has only recently begun his. Photo / Warren Buckland
Jason Hooker discovered he had terminal cancer only months after his son was finally given the all-clear from the disease.
Now he needs about $20,000 more to fund treatment that will allow him to spend more quality time with his three sons, 22-year-old Avian, 19-year-old Mikes and 20-month-old Edward.
Mikes was diagnosed with an aggressive brain and spine cancer called medulloblastoma in 2016, when he was 12.
He had a nine-hour operation at the time to remove a brain tumour and weeks of chemotherapy to treat it. He was finally able to finish the testing part of his aftercare last year.
Kylie Ashdown, Jason’s partner and Mikes’ mother, said Mikes’ treatment and care had been emotionally and financially difficult for the family and she still had bad credit following her from that time.
“I didn’t care about anything except paying for rent and being there for my boy.”
She said Jason was diagnosed with terminal metastatic melanoma in January and given between six months and a year to live after feeling pain in his arm for months.
Cancer has spread to his lungs, spine, brain and more recently into his mouth.
She said Jason’s radiation treatment and hypnotherapy had not been effective and he was left in excruciating pain, unable to sleep or stand.
He was in hospice care when Cyclone Gabrielle hit, leaving the hospice and their home in Havelock North without power.
Encorafenib and Binimetinib therapy is unfunded and costs $10,520 a month for six months, after which it will become funded if it is proven effective. Photo / Warren Buckland
He was transferred to Wellington Hospital shortly after, where surgery was considered to remove some of the tumours in his spine to reduce pain and prevent him from being paralysed, but it was eventually ruled out as an option.
Ashdown said they explored several options for treatment to improve his quality of life, all of which were costly, and eventually settled on Encorafenib and Binimetinib therapy.
The unfunded treatment costs $10,520 a month for six months, after which it will become funded if it is proven effective.
Ashdown’s parents have covered the cost of Jason’s first month of treatment, but the rest will cost $52,600.
A Givealittle page started by Ashdown’s sister, Hazel Loh, has raised $28,751 so far.
Ashdown said a follow-up scan would confirm whether the treatment was working after the third month, but they had already noticed positive signs.
“His lumps have gone down. He had multiple lumps on his back, which they measured when they first started.
“I have to help him shower and I knew straight away from his back that the lumps had gone down and I was getting excited.”
She said the second month of chemo treatment was delivered on Sunday and they were hopeful for a positive result on the scan after the third month of treatment.
