Tag: New Zealand

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Life(style)

[LIFE] A week back in the UK … after that rather aborted ‘trip of a lifetime’ to New Zealand

Today is the day that I should have been landing back in the UK in the early hours of the morning, having spent 2 months on a writing scholarship in New Zealand, and then a week in Melbourne doing some public speaking (and had treated myself to tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). This year had felt like there was a chance after 2.5 years of treatment, whilst NEAD, to seize the opportunity for a bit of travel – so I’m glad I made it to Germany earlier this year, as the New Zealand trip has been all over the place (I feel like I spent most of my time talking to insurance, travel companies, and medics, as well as dealing with the mental trauma that most of us are feeling from COVID19), and my trip to Paris in June is obviously dead in the water, as is Greenbelt Festival … (but there have been other things)…

The Final Week in New Zealand

I last wrote in my final week in New Zealand, when I had made the decision that it was time to come home, that I was awaiting blood tests, and an X-Ray. It’s interesting to know how much these kind of things are valued in real ‘cash terms’, as we’re very used to getting it all funded on the NHS (well, standard treatments anyway) – I’ve got quite a big bill to claim back from insurance. Blood tests came back with ‘neutrophils’ fine, so cleared to fly on that basis. I got my X-ray and was sent away with the images on a CD (I don’t have a CD player or any idea how to interpret the images, but anyway) .. I still have no interpretation of what the results mean from UK or NZ, which is quite frustrating (but you become very used to waiting for results, doesn’t necessarily make it easier) – especially as still a lot of (we hope) muscular pain.

There was plenty to be getting on with, including a webinar on digital discipleship with Melbourne, and this short interview with The Bible Society:

and some recording with Stephen (to be seen later) and Sapati (the first of which can be seen here):

 

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Short interview #1 in #lockdown #gettingtoknowBex #vaughanpark #scholar #nevergiveup #keepthefaith #keepgoing

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I made sure I got out and about for some of that beautiful New Zealand scenery, and capture some of those sounds of the beach for future locked-in days:

 

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Keep on walking #NewZealand

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including in the evening:

 

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Well I guess I’ve not been to the beach this late before … #Newzealand

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And when New Zealand went down to Level 3 (looking like it will announce Level 2 later today) *and yes, I think NZ have dealt with this much better than the UK, we may be different countries, but there’s something about how you communicate with your people which really changes people’s thinking/behaviour* – we were allowed back into the sea:

Our lockdown bubble enjoyed a last Sunday meal:

 

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Had lovely lunch with @dre.t26 and family .. now it really is zzzz time!

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and a takeaway (once they reopened at Level 3), as well as an online chat with the other staff from Vaughan Park):

I’m going to miss my lockdown family (thanks for my quick car tour of Auckland too), the rest of the team, some of the new friends that I’ve made (and should be able to remain connected with), Vaughan Park, and the beach (and hopefully will stay well enough to get back there!):

 

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With @dre.t26 and my ‘lockdown bubble family’ in #NewZealand … and on the beach.

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The Flight Home

Woke up early on the final day, for a last run down to the beach, and then we sat and waited, and waited, and waited, for the taxi booked by the insurance company (it never turned up, despite the regular texts saying it was confirmed). Thankfully Sapati popped off to refuel, and then took me to the airport, in time to join the very long socially-distanced queue! It took around an hour to get through temperature checks, check-ins with the consulate, before was able to check bags in (phew, having weighed everything on kitchen scales and then done some basic maths, I seemed to be about right). We went through a very empty airport (with all the shops boarded off), and into an area where one pharmacy, and one food stand were open (we may have been the only flight that day). After an hour or two of waiting, we were able to board (I had been offered a business class seat to enable more social-distancing to help reduce the immune-dangers):

 

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Nearly ready … #NewZealand .. with @UKinNZ charter flight …

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Around 12 hours for the first half of the flight (watched Little Women, 1917 (brilliant film) and Sonic the Hedgehog), around 3 hours at Hong Kong airport (where walked some pokemon to help with potential DVT), and around 11 hours for the second half of the flight (watched Just Mercy and Bohemian Rhapsody), before landing in Heathrow (with a little bit of sleep :-)), before arriving back at a very empty Heathrow:

 

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Luggage has arrived so just waiting for cab driver to pay for parking and we’re off …

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My bags took QUITE a long time to appear, before a 3+ hour taxi drive back home, where I tried to force myself to stay awake til 7pm, but fell asleep about 4pm, and didn’t properly wake up until around 9.30am the next morning!

Readjusting to the UK in COVID19 Times

I was due to take this coming week off in order to help deal with the jetlag, so I’ve taken the past week off (thankfully that makes this week a 4 day week, as I can carry over Friday!). It feels rather like settling in for some more chemotherapy .. and has mostly been spent trying to sort out food delivery, sleeping, finances, clearing some emails, and tidying up a bit … and although I’m ‘vulnerable’ (not ‘shielded’ apparently – though others on same drugs are) … important to get out and about for some fresh air … so the back streets of the local area it is (you do end up seeing areas differently when you spend a lot of time going round and round the same streets .. catching Pokemon!). I watched my first (and only) Downing Street briefing (wow, they go on, don’t they), received masks made by my cousin, decorated my house for VE Day (with WW2 posters focusing on working together!), and partook in first #ClapforNHS/Carers:

I’m still super-tired and I don’t know how much is cancer treatment/operation fatigue, how much is jetlag, and how much is coronavirus fatigue (and how much is the tramadol I’ve been given for chest strain). Hopefully I can find a way to settle into (yet another) ‘new normal’!

<edit: added Monday> When writing something happened with the blog, and I had to write it a second time. For those asking about treatment, this week I had expected to have treatment today, car MoT tomorrow, full body scan, haircut, and filling done this week… MoT has been done (thanks Andrew), haircut/filling obviously will have to wait, awaiting a scan date, and treatment is delayed til next week, when I’ve been back in the country for over 14 days.

Categories
Speaker

[SPEAKER] Interview with @VaughanParkChapel on Instagram

Normally, with the Vaughan Park scholarship, a public lecture happens towards the end of the scholarship. Obviously, this has not been the scholarship as planned, but one of the things that has happened is that have helped Sapati get going with an Instagram account for Vaughan Park Chapel – and we decided that we’d do a short set of Q&A that could be posted on there (and Facebook later). Earlier today, Sapati and I undertook a short series of videos (6!) before I fly home on the charter flight on Saturday, and here’s the first:

 

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Short interview #1 in #lockdown #gettingtoknowBex #vaughanpark #scholar #nevergiveup #keepthefaith #keepgoing

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Here was us after we’d just finished filming, and with our elegant setup … it seemed to work:

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Cancer Life(style)

[LIFE/CANCER] 8 Weeks in New Zealand

So, what do you say, nearly 8 weeks into a trip that you dreamed of for about 8 years … and officially coming into the last week of the planned trip – and coronavirus has completely upended everything you were trying to do! I last blogged a couple of weeks ago, when New Zealand was a couple of weeks into Level 4 lockdown. At the end of Monday, it will go to Level 3 Lockdown, which is basically the same as Level 4, but with takeaways (or any other business that can manage to run contactlessly).

Charter Flights

I still have my deadlines, and last week was making some decent progress as I’d accepted that I was likely to be in New Zealand til June/July, and then was hoping that flights would start to open up again. Last weekend, however, the UK government announced that they were putting on five charter flights for ‘the most vulnerable‘ – which in one way seemed strange to me, but on the other hand, there is a real possibility that things may lock down for months, so … I got an email saying we were being given 48 hours to decide if we wanted a flight, otherwise they’d be opened up to anyone else wishing to get home … but no other charter flights are planned.. and I’ve been watching Emirates – 3 weeks ago it was showing flights on 2nd June, then last week was 23rd June, this week is 2nd July. Everyone’s just trying to work out the best of a bad situation with lots of unknown factors… (sounds rather like the unsettling-ness of cancer, but with even more unknowns)

NZ or UK?

Long Bay Beach with a Beautiful Blue Sky
Long Bay Beach with a Beautiful Blue Sky

Over the past week, in amongst the conversations I have had with medics, the consulate, and the insurance company (plus work, who I am out here on behalf of) my brain has flip-flopped between:

NEW ZEALAND is safe, getting a flight is not risk free (and original GP letter said didn’t want me to get a commercial flight because of infection risk – medivac only), I am safe/fed, have access to wifi, it’s beautiful here, the country is one of the safest in the world, insurance are suggesting that they can support medical costs ($10k+ every 3 weeks), and I have a lovely ‘bubble’ to hang out with…. and although it’s going into winter, I have been lent some warmer layers.

THE UK is where my home is, my friends/family, my job, and most importantly at present, where my medical treatment is (having already paid out around $1000 in medical fees in last couple of weeks, which I hope I’ll get back, very thankful for the NHS) – and will definitely be continuing. To be honest, I am scared about coming back to a country that seems to have done many things wrong around coronavirus, and whilst it’s still at the peak, but there is a window of opportunity to get home here – and it literally could be months before another opportunity (no one knows), and as New Zealand opens up again, Vaughan Park will open up again with a range of guests (and who knows if NZ will get a few more cases as restrictions loosen) – and my house I can be totally isolated in (as we know from the past 2.5 years), and I will at least be on the same time-zone as others. Super thanks to friends/family who have looked after my house/mowed my lawn…

So, for all those who think I’m racing to get home, this has been a really challenging week trying to work out what is the best out of two not-risk-free options – and I’m very thankful to Andrew and Jane who I’ve talked to every morning for the last few weeks, as he’s looked after my house, and checked in with the hospital, etc. and to other friends who have messaged, etc. as the process of decision making has been made – even if it’s just to say ‘thinking of you’.

Organising Flights

Cathay Pacific LogoOn receiving the email about flights for the vulnerable, I immediately checked with my friendly local GP. Although the commercial flight was not seen as a good option, the fact that this flight is chartered means it HAS to get to its final destination, the people on it will all have come from NZ (where coronavirus is low) and the flight won’t get mixed later, and everyone is getting a temperature check en route onto the flight. I was told to ask a few more questions, and contacted CTM, who passed me onto the consulate, as I said I needed to get medical clearance to fly. The consulate agreed to hold a business class seat til Friday 4pm, whilst I sorted this out. Insurance have me down as too much of a flight risk (infection-wise) at present, so don’t want me to fly … so I had to talk to the New Zealand oncologist ($575 thanks) who wrote a letter and said that although all the treatments I have are available in New Zealand, he thought this was a good opportunity to get home. The insurance company wanted to hear from my UK oncologist, so got a letter from him last night/yesterday, and he very much wants me to get this flight, so long as as much social distancing as possible (the consulate agreed that I can have one of the business class seats – obviously there’s no lounge/and I think a packed lunch only). £800 for a seat (whichever seat).

Over the past week I’ve had quite a lot of pain in my shoulder blade (right side), and a couple of days ago this translated into huge pains across the chest. This very much felt muscular … and the GP gave me tramadol and celecoxib to try and manage the pain – it’s definitely helping, but she also wanted me to get blood tests and an x-ray (to check that it’s not cancer bouncing back up). I’ve still not heard from the x-ray people, but went to a walk-in for the blood tests today – results should be under 24 hours, but with Anzac day tomorrow, and a public holiday monday… The insurance company wants to know that my neutrophils are high enough (aka my white blood count/infection fighters) before they will support the flight home, but I had to organise the booking today, so hopefully the bloods will come through OK – assuming they do – then the insurance will ensure I can get to the airport, and can get from Heathrow to home. The consulate said if for some reason this is a problem, then up to 36 hours before the flight (about 1.30pm on Sat 2nd May) can cancel, as they have a huge waitlist of people who still want to get a flight. But very much the expectation is that my oncologist, who I trust, says I should get home, so if insurance won’t cover it, I’ve offers of lifts to/from airports, and work would support my repatriation… <edit, Fri eve> Work are 100% behind this and will ensure that I can get back to Manchester even if insurance don’t!

Final Thoughts

So what can I say, I’m not very good at asking for help, but I’ve appreciated the help and support I’ve had, and continue to get, from the UK and from New Zealand, and – all being well, I’ll be back in my own home in a few days … and once I’ve slept off some jetlag, will need to get on with the reading/writing I wanted to do here .. as my deadlines still exist! Also need to sort out my MoT – sod’s law is mine was due 29th March (so had it booked in for day after I got back), so doesn’t get the extra 6 months from 30th March … but think my garage should do a pick up/drop off…

I feel that cancer has prepared me very well for isolation – I have got very used to working at the points at which I feel well enough, and I’m very used to working from home … to protecting myself whilst immunity is low, and to talking to people on Facetime (although love having f2f dropins), and from having most of my shopping delivered (although I love a supermarket shop, but hopefully I’ll be able to sort a delivery slot or two, but I already have a Milk delivery with extras for basics)… also sod’s law I always have too much food in the house, but had run it down to start afresh post New Zealand. It’s weird, hopefully someday coronavirus will disappear, but I’ll carry on with cancer treatments/tests until there’s no more treatments left. There’s also quite a lot of fear about the impact of this on everyone (we know people are dying), and, aside from anything else, there’s a worry about the effect on my (and other people’s) jobs.

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Cancer Life(style)

[LIFE/CANCER] 6 Weeks in New Zealand

So, we’re over 2 weeks into lockdown in New Zealand (and since I last wrote). I don’t know about you, but I’m still feeling so tired and weighed down…. I feel super grateful that I’m safe, looked after, and it looks like I can get all my meds here (even if I have to pay for them), but obviously this is not the trip that was anticipated, and the anxiety I have been left with from cancer means I tend to worry about the worst possible outcomes from all these (not just for me, but for those I know and don’t know) – and it’s not clear when flying home will be the safe option (though Emirates is showing flights to Manchester from 2nd June, but I’ll have to talk to the medics) – was due to land back May 10th. Uncertainty SUCKS and is so UNSETTLING. The insurance company has finally emailed this week to say that I clearly haven’t made a ‘decision’ to stay, but am ‘stranded’ here, so I’m still covered (although they haven’t approved medical costs yet).

Like everyone else, life has not gone to plan recently … The plan for this trip was to:

  • Work on a revised version of book;
  • Thinking about an associated academic paper;
  • Present some talks on faith, media and digital life;
  • Develop collaborative partnerships;
  • Enjoy a refreshing and restorative rhythm of spiritual life and community.

Over the past 2-3 years, cancer has taught me that life’s plans can be thrown up into the air with very little notice, self-isolation has been fairly normal, you really start to question what is essential (what do you have the energy for/what gets you through the days), and walking around and around the block (the beach is beautiful, but it can feel rather like walking round and round the same block, so I try and find new corners that look like they are miles from others!

New Zealand is effectively in similar weather pattern to UK September – so some lovely days, but increasing chance of rain, wind, lower temperatures. Thankfully have been loaned some warmer clothes, but seeking to make the most of the nicer weather (though this morning I am still in my PJs, blanket on, window open, The Good Place on … can see lovely blue skies) … and get enough ‘fresh air’ to help with mental health and sleep!

It’s been good to talk through ideas with Sapati for some content that he can share online, that doesn’t just add to the overwhelming ‘noise’ that seems to be coming from many places:

 

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The view from Vaughan Park chapel this afternoon, looking out over Long Bay, North Shore, Auckland, New Zealand ??

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So, I’ve been thinking about what I have done out here, as I’m certainly not where I want to be with my book – the plan was around 6 weeks of research and restructuring, then 2-3 weeks of writing (the actual draft is due in May), and obviously most of my talks were cancelled (though some may be replanned for online). This week has started to feel like can do a bit more after the past couple of weeks trying to sort out insurance and anxiety melt-down…

  • Got up every day, showered every day, eaten every day, got out for a walk (or swim) every day *this was my basic for cancer treatment, though with less showering
  • Read quite a lot of research for my book (though I feel about 3 weeks behind), and worked my way through the old draft and identified what looks out of date/new areas of focus. Loaded it into Scrivener (new software).
  • Got over 200 responses to my survey on children and the internet (now open til 18th April)
  • Arranged and unarranged a number of speaking events at Auckland, (I managed to do one at Laidlaw), Wellington, Christchurch, Melbourne (same with visit to friends inc in Whangerai).
  • Written a chapter about online church and what churches could possibly take forward post-pandemic (within 48 hours)
  • Written various versions of a piece on the relevance of wartime propaganda posters on the current situation (not yet been picked up) – put my PhD back online.
  • Wrote a blogpost encouraging parents not to stress about screentime in the current crisis (or most of the time!)
  • Submitted a pitch for an academic article related to parental mediation and online content – not convinced it will get picked up, but got me thinking.
  • Awarded a place on the University writing retreat (obviously not going to happen, but wonder if I can write article draft by 8 June as planned)
  • Met some interesting people at and around Vaughan Park (before it shut down for lockdown!), met up with Stephen (Laidlaw) a couple of times, and Philippa (Massey) – there’s been personal support there, and potential academic collaborations.
  • Joined offline and offline sessions of worship/discussion – I don’t know about you I can’t cope with all the ‘opportunities’ – esp with time difference and excessive need for sleep (or at least downtime)!
  • Submitted a bid to Business Transformations funding pot to interview national church re digital transformation, awarded part of the funds, but unable to take it up as the church is too busy supporting people to go online.
  • Worked with JISC to launch a survey re research use of digital … circulation cancelled due to COVID19.
  • Two online meetings, and work on social media/cancer bid has continued.
  • Two radio interviews (Premier and Coast Access Radio), plus expecting to be a guest on The Tall Man (via Zoom)
  • Emptied my emails, including my external examining, and done half my PDR documentation
  • Talked to more people than I might usually have! Thankful to Andrew (and sometimes Jane) who check in with each (my) morning to try and keep my head from disappearing down the mental health whirlpool – and those who interact with on social media – I love the Holy Pandemic group!

When I consider that I cried at the airport heading to Jersey last summer, amazing that I managed to get all the way out here so straightforwardly, and still just about hanging on in current circumstances. Thankful for technology so hoping that all keeps going … praying for wisdom from leaders to bring this global pandemic to a halt safely as soon as possible and that we will find a way out of it – with questions about what life looks like afterwards – I hope we will value some things differently…

Categories
Media & Press Media - Audio

[MEDIA] Talking to Graeme on Coast Access Radio #NewZealand

Late last week I spoke to Graeme Joyes on Coast Access Radio (I think it was Friday morning!) about my research, what I’m doing in New Zealand, and of course a bit of COVID19 came in there (we chatted for 38 mins):

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