Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

New hope that Deanna can win battle

Northland Age
18 Apr, 2016 08:58 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

BATTLING: Deanna Trevarthen and Greg Robertson, defying the odds with Keytruda. PICTURE/HERALD ON SUNDAY

BATTLING: Deanna Trevarthen and Greg Robertson, defying the odds with Keytruda. PICTURE/HERALD ON SUNDAY

Dr Richard Sullivan didn't share Deanna Trevarthen's hope that Keytruda would help her win her battle against malignant pleural mesothelioma, one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Now they're not so sure.

Deanna and her partner Greg Robertson, both former Northland Age employees now living in Auckland, were told at Deanna's first pre-treatment meeting that it would be a miracle if Keytruda worked. And a miracle is what they say they are seeing.

"We decided to go ahead with (Keytruda) despite the 1/500 odds. They were much better odds than she was facing. Getting her to that first treatment itself was a miracle too," Greg said.

Deanna had now had two rounds of self-funded treatment, at a cost of $45,000. (The on-going cost is $10,000 every three weeks).

Keytruda usually took four treatments to show signs of working, but Deanna (who in February was given three to five weeks to live) didn't have that much time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We were banking on it aiding her total treatment package immensely, just a one-off treatment. We were right, thankfully.

"The tumour owned her. Hospice struggled and struggled with pain medication. Her hospice room was ice cold, I was wearing four layers of clothes in the height of summer and I was freezing she was sweating. She was there for three days and had had enough, so I brought her home. She wanted to be at home."

Dr Sullivan had pronounced Keytruda's results as a "mixed bag," some tumours decreasing in size and some new tumours developing, but "overall, and in context, the results were amazing."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Deanna's last scan, on February 9, had been devastating. Chemotherapy was no longer working, and she was failing rapidly downhill.

"Suddenly we were at North Shore Hospice, and it looked like the end, but we have (cancer) on the run for the moment.

Richard put it best. "Just look at her. A different person."

Hospice nurses who were here every day once we came home now come once or twice a week, and only really to check the medication pump drive sites for infections. They are gobsmacked at her recovery. Everyone is."

Deanna, he added, was suffering the worst type of cancer with the worst types of tumours, but still Keytruda was working, as far as experts could tell. But there was still another battle to be won. Greg had no doubt that Keytruda would be government funded within weeks or months, but only for melanoma patients.

"Should it be available for all? Of course it should, for all who are out of options and the system says only palliative care is available," he said.

"My take is that once the government-led medical system says there is nothing they can do and tell you to get your affairs in order, the gloves come off. Patients should be able to try any and all drugs they want that are available, and Keytruda, if funded, fits into that category of whatever might work.

"My experience from all of this is doctors do not know it all. In Dee's case they have turned out to know very, very little. So if they know little, how can a government draw legislation on who is allowed to use what?

"Keytruda can be a miracle and should be available to all. Making it just for melanoma patients is a great step in the right direction, but take a snapshot of the big picture and it's the government that would then be holding knives to the throats of so many. They are then doing the killing. Suddenly you don't have a government but an organisation playing God, picking and choosing who can use it and who can live.

"Too many decisions are based on money. Even doctors are making too many decisions based on money. We have been told that many within Auckland would not have treated Deanna from the start. She was a lost cause. Thank the heavens for Richard Sullivan saying everyone has a right, otherwise Dee would be dead right now.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"To those doctors making the money decisions, the wrong decisions, find another profession. There is no room for this kind of doctoring that does not take into consideration heart, mind and the often unbelievable human spirit to live despite everything. Dee is the perfect example of just that."

- Letter to the Editor - A message for cancer.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

Far North talent shines as Smokefreerockquest returns to Kerikeri

07 Jul 02:00 AM
Northland Age

Eight Northland stores caught selling vapes to under-18s in compliance test

06 Jul 11:09 PM
Northland Age

Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

02 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

Far North talent shines as Smokefreerockquest returns to Kerikeri

Far North talent shines as Smokefreerockquest returns to Kerikeri

07 Jul 02:00 AM

Local act Bandwith Riot won first place.

Eight Northland stores caught selling vapes to under-18s in compliance test

Eight Northland stores caught selling vapes to under-18s in compliance test

06 Jul 11:09 PM
Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

02 Jul 05:00 PM
On The Up: Youth gym transforms lives, offers more than just exercise

On The Up: Youth gym transforms lives, offers more than just exercise

02 Jul 12:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP