Whangārei cancer mum buoyed by community support for last-chance drug

Cherie Coker says there's only one thing she wants to do: Create more beautiful memories for her two children, aged 10 and 14. Photo / Denise Piper

A Northland mother-of-two desperately fundraising for a last-chance cancer drug has been buoyed by community support.

Cherie Coker, 47, from Whangārei, was given just months to live when she was first diagnosed with cancer in November 2021.

Her diagnosis of metastatic pancreaticobiliary adenocarcinoma - cancer in her pancreas spread to her liver, kidneys and spleen - was initially delayed by about a month after it slipped from the health system.

Despite the poor prognosis, Coker received chemotherapy which kept her tumors at bay.

She fought through the side effects of the chemotherapy, inspired by her two children: 14-year-old Ayla and 10-year-old Lachlan.

However, the chemotherapy stopped working just over six months ago, when it was discovered the cancer had spread to Coker’s lungs.

Her oncologist prescribed a targeted drug, Pemigatinib, which had a 60 per cent success rate in patients with similar forms of cancer.

The drug is not publicly funded by Pharmac and costs around $7200 a month - a cost Coker is unable to meet after her cancer forced her to give up her job.

Friend Lucy Mullinger set up a Givealittle page and, after coverage in the Northern Advocate, it has now raised enough money for Coker to get two months’ treatment of Pemigatinib.

She is due to start on the drug this week, with scans run every three months to check its success.

Coker said the donations have been “amazing” and she is grateful for the opportunity to take the drug, in a bid to spend more time with her children.

Her cancer has been hard on the family, she admitted.

Meanwhile, Mullinger has also started a petition for Pemigatinib to be funded in New Zealand, to help both Coker in the long term and others like her.

The Parliamentary petition closes on February 19.

Pharmac director of pharmaceuticals, Geraldine MacGibbon, previously said Pemigatinib is not registered with Medsafe for use in New Zealand.

She sympathised with patients unable to get funding for their medicines but said the agency has to make some tough decisions about which medicines to fund for the best health outcomes for all New Zealanders while staying within its budget.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years’ experience in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.