Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Aneinu Please Daven


Please daven for Esther bas Miriam, who has advanced/metastatic breast cancer which has spread to her liver. You may have seen requests to either raise funds for or to find "Ibrance" a medication she needs.  [IBRANCE first was approved in February 2015 and also is indicated for the treatment of HR+, HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer in combination with letrozole as initial endocrine-based therapy in postmenopausal women.The indication in combination with letrozole is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival (PFS). Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial. The confirmatory Phase 3 trial, PALOMA-2, is fully enrolled.  IBRANCE is the first and only cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK 4/6) inhibitor approved by the FDA. http://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer_receives_expanded_fda_approval_for_ibrance_palbociclib_in_hr_her2_metastatic_breast_cancer]    If you have already seen her letter below and what her friend wrote, which follows it, I apologize. If you have any connections or might in any way be able to help her, her plea is below: Shalom My name is Esther Caplin, from Neve Daniel​, Israel​ After a year of treatments for stage 4 breast cancer which has spread to my liver, my oncologist decided to put me on Ibrance (with Faslodex) providing me with a free 3-month supply of Ibrance that he had obtained from a former patient.  Unfortunately, Ibrance is not one of the cancer drugs supplied on the health plan in Israel and my oncologist hoped to use the three month period to assess its effectiveness on me and to try to acquire more of the drug from Pfizer on compassionate grounds. While the Ibrance has succeeded in halting the spread of the cancer, the request to Pfizer did not work out. As buying the drug was not a viable option, I began a search in my support group (Inspire) for women who were once on Ibrance and since moved to a different treatment, the idea being that some people have Ibrance that is no longer being used. I was successful so far in obtaining enough pills for two more months of treatment. I am asking you to please spread the word – if you know anyone who was once on Ibrance and wishes to donate her left over Ibrance pills, please contact me atesther.caplin@gmail.com  As I see it, the unused medicine eventually will be thrown out, but for me, every 21 pills means another month of life. * Thank you so much for passing this on to whomever you think may be able to help me.  In appreciation,  Esther Caplin One of my very close friends is in desperate search for Ibrance pills for breast cancer, the only treatment that has helped her so far. Some amazing women around the world have donated some but only for two more months. Perhaps you could post this on your e-mails or your rabbis can announce the need for this drug from the pulpit. Each bottle costs about $10,000, but many women have gone on and off this treatment so we are trying to find them. Only in American cancer support groups did my friend and her husband get responses that donating unused medicines is illegal etc. but we are talking about life and death and thousands of dollars of life-saving drugs that may otherwise go into the garbage. Esther adopted 5 children, she is now raising one of her grandchildren and is very central in her entire family’s lives, as you can imagine.  She is an amazing, positive human being who refuses to succumb to her circumstances, is incredibly active and continues to surprise and inspire her doctors and all of us

1 comment:

  1. Please daven for Esther bas Miriam, who has advanced/metastatic breast cancer which has spread to her liver. You may have seen requests to either raise funds for or to find "Ibrance" a medication she needs.
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