Jerry’s Journey

We experienced a devastating loss yesterday morning at 4:30am, Jerry (Dad) passed away. We will miss him deeply and sadly, but he will never, ever be forgotten. Love you Dad.

AHRENS, Jerry John - Passed away peacefully after a brave and courageous battle with Cancer at the Ross Memorial Hospital, Lindsay on November 25th, 2007 at the age of 73. Jerry was the beloved husband of Rochelle Ahrens, of 42 years. Loving father of Shelley Travis (David) of Port Perry, David Ahrens of Jackson’s Point, and Heather Ahrens (Carman Guthrie) of Fenelon Falls. Cherished grandfather of Matthew Ahrens. Survived by his sisters Gerda (Ruud), and Anna-Wies of Holland, Johanna Clara of Italy, and brother Jan George (Ans) of Holland. Predeceased by his parents Jan George Sr. (1996) and Wies (2000). Jerry is also survived by his sisters-in-law Bev and Joan of Sudbury, Harriet of Montreal, and brothers-in-law Harry of Sudbury and the late Jimmy Haddow. Jerry will be sadly missed by all his relatives and friends. Visitation will be held at the Mackey Funeral Home, 33 Peel St., Lindsay, on Tuesday from 7-9 pm. Funeral service will be held in the chapel on Wednesday November 28th at 4 pm. Following cremation a private family interment will take place at Riverside Cemetery. Memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the family (to donate, click on the link on the left hand navigation bar). Thank you to the Triathlon Group associated with son David as you all made a difficult time much easier.

The long time battle that Jerry has had with the Province for access to Avastin has finally been resolved!!! Wrong.

Premier McGuinty has sent a disappointing response and it now is evident that he is not familiar with his own government’s process and has not bothered to do any due diligence around this topic, not to mention the fact that his recommended course of action has already been a road that Jerry has “journied” down for the past year.

There is still obviously more work to be done here…the content of the letter from the Premier’s office follows:

“Premier Dalton McGuinty, has forwarded your e-mail regarding coverage of the anti-cancer drug Avastin to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Currently, all new cancer drugs, approved for use by Health Canada and submitted for funding consideration in Ontario are reviewed by the ministry’s expert advisers, the Committee to Evaluate Drugs (CED), which works with experts from Cancer Care Ontario (CCO).

These experts consider a drug’s clinical value, cost-effectiveness and impact on health services as compared to existing treatments, and make a recommendation to the Executive Officer (EO). The EO then makes the final decision concering funding. This collaborative evaluation process ensures that decisions are made with input from cancer treatment experts.

The CED has reviewed Avastin for its use in metastatic colorectal cancer and has advised that the information provided does not meet the standards of scientific evidence and cost-effectiveness required to supoprt a funding recommendation. As a result, we are not funding Avastin at this time.

I understand that you and many others hoped for a positive funding recommendation for Avastin. I assure you that the ministry will review, as quickly as possible, any new information from the drug manufacturer that may have an impact on this funding decision.

Thank you for taking the time to write about this important matter.

Sincerely,

Helen Stevenson, Assistant Deputy Minister and Executive Officer

c: The Honourable Dalton McGuinty, Premier”