After an 18-month battle with renal cell cancer, Nick Collings received the miracle he had been longing for - the four tumours in his brain and most of the cancer in his lungs had disappeared.
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After 21 days on the drug Axitinib, there were only a few tumours left on his lungs.
Three weeks before there had been close to a hundred.
While the drug is not life-saving, instead of dying within weeks, Mr Collings now has hope of longevity and quality of life.
But the chemotherapy drug is not on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and is costing Mr Collings $7000 a month.
"I feel angry, sad and disappointed," Mr Collings said.
"I've tried three types of chemotherapy and then one comes along that finally works and the government dictates whether you get to use it or not.
"It's really unfair that people have to pay this amount of money for 28 tablets when it's needed to keep them alive. If I don't get this medication I die. It's as simple as that.
"There is no other medication that is working for me at the moment. It's changed things around for me very quickly."
Axitinib is Mr Collings' fourth line of treatment.
In November doctors were stunned when a CT scan confirmed the tumours had almost gone.
"I'm proof that this drug works, it is keeping me alive and I don't think that I, and many others like me, should have to fight to get it. I think it's wrong," Mr Collings said.
Mr Collings had to draw on his superannuation to pay for the first round of treatment and Pfizer Australia, which manufactures the drug, agreed to give him a free month's supply.
But he now has to find the funds to keep up the treatment.
"I feel so sorry for people who can't afford to buy the drug at all, those who just don't have any money. It's like handing them a death sentence," Mr Collings said.
"All I can say is that this drug works. They are on to a winner here, that is for sure."
Axitinib, or Inlyta as it is also known, was considered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee in November.
Its decision will be published on December 19.
Mr Collings' partner, Ann Goldsmith, made a submission in October to the committee in the hope that his success on the drug would sway their decision.
The Wollongong woman has also posted a petition on change.org.
"This should not be an economic decision," Ms Goldsmith said.
"We work hard all our lives and pay taxes and in our time of need medication that is needed for our very survival is given a price tag that is out of reach for any normal working person."
Axitinib is currently being used overseas.
The petition is accessible through change.org under the reference Axitinib.
Mr Collings is also a featured patient on Sick or Treat, a fund-raising organisation run by Rare Cancers Australia.
Donations to help Mr Collings pay for his treatment can be made through that website.
