Kiwi mum's cancer battle - 'I EITHER DO THIS OR DIE SLOWLY'

For Christchurch's Robyn MacDonald, an eye-wateringly expensive drug is her last chance to stay alive

- Suzanne McFadden

Robyn MacDonald was on her way home after a night out with friends in Hong Kong when she suddenly collapsed. Unable to get back on her feet, she crawled to a taxi.

A successful marketing consultant and business coach, Robyn had been ignoring the signs that something was wrong. She'd had a sore back and was coughing a lot but thought it was simply a common cold. In fact, her worst fears were realised when she was told the breast cancer she'd had seven years prior had returned - and it was terminal. The cancer had metastasised in her spine, pelvis, a lung and a kidney.

"It was growing everywhere, so I packed up my life in Hong Kong and flew home to Christchurch," says the 59-year-old. “I was told I had an outside chance of living for two years or it could be three months, but I said, ‘No, that’s not my story’.”

Five years later, Robyn says she’s “living well with cancer”. After a series of traditional treatments and what she calls “integrative” therapies – “treating the inflammation, my diet and mental health” – those metastatic tumours have either shrunk or completely disappeared.

Now she’s facing a new challenge – a lump has appeared on her jaw in the past few months and tumours on her spine are progressively affecting her mobility.

Running out of funded treatment options in New Zealand, Robyn is now paying for a new drug, Enhertu, to be sent from Australia – at $23,000 a dose.