That was the first I'd heard of that announcement," she said.Ms Thorpe, a consumer advocate for BCNA, had already been considering removing her ovaries, but said AstraZeneca's announcement that it would pull Zoladex from the Australian market "cemented" the decision."It's a key part of keeping my cancer from progressing any further in my body … it was literally part of what was keeping me alive," she said."At the time we did not have an alternative And the answer is that they both are."The federal government has recently been in several protracted, high-profile stand-offs with major pharmaceutical companies over how the PBS operates.A spokesperson said the health department acknowledged AstraZeneca's move to remove Zoladex 3.6mg from the PBS had created distress for patients."We recognise that uncertainty about access to a medicine can be deeply concerning for patients and clinicians, particularly where people are considering significant treatment decisions in response."Ms Thorpe said the federal government listing the alternative drug on the PBS would spare other women from the pain and uncertainty she had experienced."I know that my case is pretty extreme, but that was the reality for a lot of women who were told that their treating teams were uncertain about whether there would be treatment available and an oophorectomy or removal of ovaries would be their only option, so this is a huge relief," she said."I think in the future as well, we just need better communication