CALGARY -- The family of a Calgary woman battling advanced lung cancer is making a desperate plea to Alberta Health and Pfizer Canada for help with the cost of cancer drug that could potentially prolong her life.

Sharon Lim has spent $6,000 of her own money to access to a one-month supply of crizotinib. According to Health Canada, crizotinib is a "prescription drug authorized for sale in Canada to treat specific types of advanced lung cancer."

Lim, who has never been a smoker, received a Stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis in November after suffering shortness of breath and backaches throughout the summer.

"Our oncologist says there is a drug that can target the tumour, that’s the first line of defence," Lim’s husband Joshua Wong told CTV News.

Wong was laid off in 2017, leaving the couple and their 13-year-old son without health benefits.

They said they couldn’t afford to pay into private insurance and even though their oncologist applied for palliative Blue Cross, it’s still not covered.

"They can't operate anymore because the nodules are just too numerous and they spread to the bones and only this drug can target the tumour, according to the oncologist," said Wong. "This one will help to reduce the size of tumour. It's been proven in many cases."

Wong said he reached out to Alberta Health and the drug’s manufacturer Pfizer Canada.

The letter he received in response from CancerControl Alberta read "Alberta Health has not made a decision to fund crizotinib for patients in Alberta with Stage 4 ROS-1 positive non-small cell lung cancer. In fact, no Canadian province has made this decision yet."

The letter indicated the drug is available in some cases for "compassionate access" if a patient’s physician requests a supply of the drug from the manufacturer (Pfizer), or the patient’s "private medical insurance covers the cost of the drug."

Pfizer responds

"The decision to provide coverage for the type of lung cancer your wife has is the hand of Alberta Health Services. Pfizer is working with your provincial government and other key Canadian stakeholders to complete an agreement for public reimbursement," read the letter to Wong from Pfizer Canada.

The couple said the drug normally costs $8,000 per month but the pharmaceutical company offered it to them for $2,000 less.

In a statement to CTV News, Pfizer Canada said the company shares the family’s concerns regarding access to the drug.

"In Alberta, it is the responsibility of the provincial government, the Alberta Health Department, to provide oncology medications for its beneficiaries. In fact, the Alberta Health Department has been providing coverage of this medication in other indications since 2013."

In an email, Alberta Health said crizotinib is not covered anywhere in Canada for this condition, but it has received a conditional recommendation from the Pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review Committee.

"The Pan Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance is currently negotiating a price with the drug manufacturer. Until these negotiations are successfully concluded, Crizotinib is not eligible for publicly-funded coverage in Alberta," said an Alberta Health spokesperson in a statement.

"We recognize the tragic challenges this patient is facing and understand their wish to explore all available options," the statement read.

The ongoing negotiations between Pfizer and the government offer little comfort to Wong or his wife, who are trying to raise money to pay for the drug.

"The problem is a patient's life is at stake and this drug has been proven to save lives, prolong lives according to our oncologist. I can’t understand any other reason why they'd hold back on this compassionate access for my wife other than they want some bargaining power, some leverage," he said.

A GoFundMe campaign created to raise funds for Lim’s medication has already raised more than $13,000.

Also, shortly after CTV News ran Lim's story, donations started pouring in, including  an anonymous donor who gifted them $6,000, enough for a full month's supply of the drug.