A day to remember

I did promise readers good news when available. My first good news is that I have had no bowel obstruction for 14 days. My second is that I am managing to sleep reasonably well at nights, using the morphine kindly prescribed by my medical advisers. My third is that sister Mary and her husband Tom have been visiting from Melbourne, staying with friends in Lower Hutt, and helping take me to medical appointments. My fourth is that my son Chris has taken a week off work to come to New Zealand to be with his Dad. And my fifth is that today has been a remarkable day.

This morning I rode in an E-type Jaguar and had the joy of looking inside its bonnet. For lunch I had Dim Sum with Miang, Mary, Tom, Chris, cousin Merle and husband Sam, and old friend Craig Rofe and his daughter Anahera. Sadly, I drank Fortesip while they tucked into the feast. And in the afternoon I gave the Rua Rautau address on the theme of the Treaty of Waitangi, on the beautiful Te Herenga Waka Marae of the University, with my whanau present, along with many distinguished guests including ambassadors and members of parliament.

The pictures show me with Sir Eddie Durie, retired High Court Judge, the Maori leader who started the Rua Rautau series 11 years ago. I shared the occasion with my good friend and fellow cancer comrade Luamanuvao Winnie Laban who spoke after me.

A gift

Marcel Nogueira d' Eurydice is a Brazilian physicist who worked in my lab a couple of years ago. Marcel is bright, handsome and very warm-hearted. Recently he sent me a remarkable gift, this picture of Thomas on my shoulders made of around 300 pictures taken from my blog.

I have had many kind messages and emails from friends, all of which serve to keep my spirits high. I finished my 5 day course of electron beam irradiation today and hope soon to get some benefits. It is possible that we might identify some other near-surface pain sites and irradiate them as well.

Each day, my sister Mary and her husband Tom, who are visiting from Australia, have taken me to the hospital for my irradiation appointment. Mary's nursing knowledge has proven a great help in suggesting additional questions during my various consultations, with hospital and hospice staff, as well as in advising me and Miang.

Tomorrow Chris arrives from the UK. He will be with us for a week.

Public property

In September 2011, the Dominion Post ran a front page story with the headline "Bastion of Science turns to alternative medicine". They had discovered from my blog that I had been taking intravenous vitamin C and rang me in the UK to ask for a comment, saying that they would run the story whatever I said. I told them that I had no indication as to whether or not the treatment was effective. I turned down requests for radio and TV interviews that resulted from publication of that story.

Since then the DomPost has twice contacted me seeking information about the status of my health and my IVC treatment. I told them I had no more information about the IVC effectiveness. On Wednesday this week I was sent a copy of an article published by a New Zealand organisation promoting IVC therapy, in which I was quoted as being in support of the therapy from which I had gained benefit. This assertion, coupled with my knowledge of individuals who had taken up IVC simply because I was trying it, prompted me to action.

I contacted the DomPost on Wednesday evening, informing them that I had finished my IVC experiment and that there was no evidence to suggest any benefit in my case. They sent a photographer Thursday and ran the story the next morning. This was excruciating, having my personal difficulties in the public domain, but I felt I had no choice but to cooperate fully so as to stop the spread of misleading information. The story, written by their health reporter Kate Newton, was fair and accurate.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6286215/Vitamin-therapy-fails-to-deliver

I agreed to give a live interview to National Radio on Friday morning so that I could get the message to the whole country, but refused all TV interview requests.

http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/kiwisummer/ksm-20120120-0923-sir_paul_callaghan_-_vitamin_therapy_for_cancer-048.mp3

The story got high profile national coverage, and I have no doubt that it has stopped in its tracks, any future attempt to justify this treatment using my name. It also resulted in a deluge of crank emails to me, phone calls offering the salvation of God and in one case, an offer of advice on reincarnation. The Dompost web article attracted several comments, mostly scornful of me - "straw-grasping exercise by a dying man", "of course the IVC didn't work-he'd taken chemotherapy which wrecks the body", "He should never have said he was trying Vitamin C in the first place, then he would not have to deal with all the misuse of the information he foolishly chose to make public", "as bizarre as his recurring fantasy that he is an economist", and various other theories from people who don't know me and who choose to project their unhappiness.

Sunday Star Times columnist, Michael Laws, a man not noted for delicacy and kindness, made me the subject of his column. He was less cruel than usual when he wrote "The news that such an esteemed rationalist had embraced such quackery provided a positive fillip for the odd, dippy and deranged everywhere."

Did anyone imagine that I enjoyed having to go public on this? It's hard enough facing death, even with morphine as an aid, without having to do so publicly and for the entertainment of others.

But there was one email that came today that was so singular in its kindness, and which restored me in a moment of quiet tearfulness. It was from a man named Kevin Kevany, a journalist with whom I had worked in writing a series of articles for the New Zealand Manufacturer last year. I reproduce it here, just to show that someone saw my motives differently.

"Paul

To your courage, you now add bravery, in your willingness to protect others at the expense of a loss of privacy.
You are a mensch of the first order. Your gifts to New Zealand in so many spheres testify to that.
My thoughts are with you dealing with this bastard thing.

Bestest
Kevin"

Good days

Part of the solution to the philosophical problem concerns the concept of "good days". When I meet people they ask "how are you?", the answer to which question would sensibly take a PhD thesis. But in my state there are bad days and good days.

Take last Friday for example. That was a bad day. Exhausted after an all-night bowel obstruction, I dragged myself, along with an equally exhausted Miang, to my hospital oncologist who completed the exercise of knocking me senseless by sharing the horror show of my PET scan, as if the radiologist's report wasn't enough. Seriously though, he is a wonderful man, and I wanted to see the images. He ensured that I got an immediate IV litre of saline, then called up the radiation oncologist who put the proposal for some palliative electrons, whisking me off to radiation physics to have a planning CT scan done for beam irradiation to start within days. The care cannot be faulted.

On Sunday the obstruction exercise repeated. But on Monday night, after a day recovering and aided by morphine, I had an excellent sleep, waking to one of those magical clear, calm, warm, blue-sky days which we locals refer to, ironically, as "a typical Wellington day". I called in at the office, at Magritek, and to each and everyone who questioned me I was able to cheerfully reply, "I am having a good day".

Good days are to be relished, and what better way to round one off than to go fishing. We headed out to the Days Bay wharf and threw in our lines. Miang immediately caught a fish, a small fish to be sure, but one worth a photograph. It was a balmy evening with kids jumping off the wharf and swimming from the beach. I had another excellent sleep last night.

Today I had the electron beam for the first of five successive days. As I lay under this marvellous instrument with its multiple axis control, laser beams flashing in all directions to ensure my correct positioning, I noticed that it was made by Varian. Russell Varian carried out the first Earth field free induction NMR experiment in 1954 and founded the company, famous for its NMR spectrometers as well as its medical accelerators. I carried out the first Earth field spin-echo NMR experiment in 1981 and helped found Magritek which began by selling Earth field instruments. I felt at home with Russell looking over me.

My radiation oncologist likes his job and enjoys his technology. They use a a very powerful 64 bit computer which morphs the PET-CT and planning CT scans into registration, precisely calculating the electron radiation dose in a contour map across the xiphisternum tumour, and
neatly avoiding damage to nearby bowel, so he assured me. We pored over the saggittal, coronal and axial plots (I show the axial one here). They are impressive. Not only did I like the machine. I liked the software which drives it. And in the end, the exercise of lying flat for 10 minutes wasn't too unbearable. Morphine is a fine drug.

PET-CT and Philosophy

I have wrestled a bit with this blog entry, as I did with the last. To what extent should I trouble my readers with the tough news? I've had Catherine here for the last fortnight, a great chance to discuss matters important and unimportant. But in discussing this particular matter, we both agreed that part of the purpose, indeed the primary purpose of the blog, was to let friends know about the state of my health. So let's get the "information part" sorted first.

Yesterday I had a PET-CT scan. Catherine drove me, at 7-15 am, just down the road to the Bowen Medical Centre where Pacific Radiology have a new facility. I am treated like a regular customer by Pacific, placed first in the queue for the 18F-labelled glucose produced that morning in the Wellington cyclotron. In the past, when the isotope was produced in Melbourne and flown over, decaying through a a couple of half-lives at least, I used to ask if I could go early in the queue, figuring that I would get more sensitivity with highest activity. Now that it is locally made, it really doesn't matter. But, rather than protest that my idiosyncrasy no longer applied, I accepted their insistence that "we know you like to be early in the queue", along with the early morning rise that it implied, two hours of advance water drinking being specified.

The scan was quite an ordeal this time. It is necessary to stretch both arms back behind the head during the 20 minutes of the gamma ray detection as the gantry steps through successive slices. This is quite a painful position for me now, and as the scan started, I wondered if I could sustain myself through it. I did, partly through counting breaths, about 70 per slice as it turned out.

By the afternoon my surgeon had already rung me to discuss the results in broad terms, though I hadn't by that stage seen the report. This morning the hospital rang to advise me of an appointment with my oncologist in two days. I was impressed with the speed. Today I received the report in the mail. It was a hammer blow against hope, the final conclusion reading,

"There is evidence of quite widespread recurrence within the peritoneal cavity involving peritoneum, liver, bowel, mesentery and anterior abdominal wall. There is also more extensive involvement of the xiphisternum and increase in size of the right lower (lung) lobe mass."

In short, I have extensive disease now, which has definitely spread to the lung and liver. The various tumours cause me quite a bit of discomfort. The xiphisternum tumour causes me to have to sleep in a sitting position since lying on my side or back compresses the chest resulting in a buildup of pain. I am being well served by the health system with extra support from the district oncology nurses and occupational therapists. Where I go next in terms of treatment, perhaps radiotherapy to reduce my largest tumour mass, or some further chemotherapy for systemic reduction, will be decided in a few days. It is essentially palliative.

So to the matter of philosophy. How am I to deal with the next phase? It is different because optimism is harder, time horizons more immediate, and my body continuously reminds me of its concerns. To be frank, I have not yet worked this philosophical problem out, but I expect that I will.

Down at the radiology clinic there was an older man from Hastings who had travelled by bus the day before, and stayed in a Johnsonville motel overnight, so that he could follow me into the PET-CT machine. Catherine chatted to him after I had been called. His condition was considerably more painful than mine, he was alone, and he was worried because he had needed to spend his limited financial resources on taxi fares and part of his motel bill, the health system having not fully provided.

I have no money worries. My daughter was able to be there with me in the clinic. My essential medical services are but a short drive away. I am not alone. More than that, I am blessed with having the exceptional love and support of Miang. I have the care of family and friends.

The truth is that I am very fortunate in almost every aspect of life, and what I face now is part of what we all face in this journey, in our own peculiar and individual ways. As regards this blog, what I will try to do, dear reader, is to write more about my thoughts and hopes, than about the rather self-absorbing details of my physical condition. And if there is good news, I promise to let you know!

2012

I do apologise for a long silence. In part this has been because it is the holiday season here and I have been away from Wellington visiting family. Catherine flew home from from London and has been with Miang and me since just before Christmas. We had Christmas day in Wellington then drove to the Bay of Plenty for a few days at Ohope, and then with Jeanine and Murray in Papamoa. The photo shows Catherine, Jeanine, me and Miang on a walk around Mount Maunganui.

But I have to confess, there has been a deterioration in my health. Christmas day was spent dealing with another obstruction, only to be repeated a week later. The experience is unpleasant, but it passes. What doesn't pass is the underlying problem. The record CEA measurement was more than a portent of trouble ahead. It has simply confirmed what my body had been telling me for some weeks. I have continuous pain now and each day brings change. But this change is different. During the 2010 chemotherapy, despite the nausea and tiredness, the tumour pain noticeably receded over the treatment. After surgery, both in 2008 and 2010, each day of recuperation brought noticeable improvement. Now, the change is in reverse, and the mental challenge that this brings is quite different. I am having to learn some new skills.

Next week I have a PET-CT scan. This will enable my surgeon and oncologist to make a decision about future options. One possibility is further chemotherapy.

I am in good spirits.

Christmas wishes

To all those who check my blog, I wish you a "Happy Christmas".

Miang and I are looking forward to Catherine joining us in a couple of days. She will stay with us until mid January and during that time we will travel to Ohope Beach and then to Papamoa to visit Jeanine and Murray.

Just over three years ago I had my first cancer surgery. Since then, I have taken nothing for granted and tried to fill every moment of my life with purpose and spirit. And throughout this period Miang has given me the most extraordinary love and support. I face 2012 with some uncertainty. My latest CEA shows that the cancer is raging unabated, indeed at the highest level and with the fastest growth since I started these measurements. However, this latest development is not without some value. I have taken vitamin C infusions through this period of record CEA rise. I think I can fairly say that in my case, intravenous vitamin C has not proven effective.





The pictures are of me with Thomas on my head and James in the water, of Chris and me on the boys' joint birthday, and of Catherine, me and Miang, taken in 2008 while we were in Berkeley, California.

I finish with my latest CEA graph.

My last graduating PhD student

On Tuesday evening, Bradley Douglass graduated PhD at Victoria University of Wellington. Brad is my 24th and last PhD student and so his ceremony had a particular significance for me. Brad is a great guy and is currently working in the lab on a post-doctoral fellowship supported from the Marsden fund. He is develping fast scan imaging techniques for complex flow velocimetry.

After the graduation I joined Brad, his parents, and my colleagues Mark Hunter and Petrik Galvosas, for a drink and bite at Zibbibos. My bites were carefully chosen and today, I am at day 16 since last colonic failure, a new record.

Insurance and banking.

Many years ago, my bank, the BNZ, suggested that I insure my car, my house and my personal effects with them. At the time, I declined, saying I liked banks to do banking and insurance companies to do insurance, and bakers to bake bread and airlines to fly aeroplanes. I deserted this moral high ground when I came to take out a new mortgage and the BNZ offered me favourable terms if I included insurance as well. Now supermarkets sell fuel, newspapers broadcast video on the internet, and corner dairies sell liquor. The world has moved on and so must I.

Wednesday week ago Miang and I attended the Institution of Professional Engineers black tie dinner. I had to make a speech and present a couple of awards. As the evening progressed the battery failed in my right ear hearing aid. I removed the hearing aid and put it in my trouser pocket. Later that evening, on returning home, I found that it was missing. One possibility was that in refueling the car at a central city service station on the way home, where I had removed my wallet near the pump, I may have dislodged the pocketed precious. We were too exhausted to search that evening, but by 8 am next morning we had returned to the service station forecourt. The picture shows what we found, right a squashed piece of high technology, worth around $3500 before a car had run over it, left the undamaged left ear device for comparison.

I rang Bay Audiology for a quote. Of course the original had carried a government subsidy and a special offer discount, no longer available. I was up for $4600. I had personal effects insurance, but had never listed or specified hearing aids on the policy. I was prepared to ask my insurer, but expected to be rebuffed. But this is New Zealand, where anything is possible.

I rang the Bank of New Zealand and within seconds was talking to Amy, who having confirmed that I really was "Paul" by my knowledge of Paul's birthdate, and the size of his fortnightly salary deposit, asked me sweetly. "How can I help you Paul?" I told her my sad tale. "Paul," said she, "it's so easy to lose hearing aids. Don't you worry. Of course we will be delighted to pay for a new one. $4600 sounds very reasonable. No problem at all Paul. And Paul. I want to tell you that there will be no excess to pay and your claim will cause no change to your future no claims bonus".

"Impossible. How can that be?" I asked. "That is because you are over 55" said this angel of banking insurance.

I was disarmed by the charming grace of this girl, and more particularly, the beneficence of her employer. "But Amy, I can hardly believe this. I think I must be in paradise to be dealing with a company like yours". "Paul," she asked "who supplies your hearing aid?" "Bay Audiology" I replied. "Oh" cooed Amy, "We deal with them all the time. Don't you worry Paul. I will send the claim number to them right now and they will contact you". "There is nothing more you need do."

"Amy", I said. "I am going to tell all my friends and family to insure with BNZ insurance!"

The next day I had a phone call. It was Tracey from Bay Audiology. She might have been Amy's sister. "Paul, how are you today?", she enquired, heartfelt sincerity in every syllable. "Your hearing aid has been ordered. And Paul, can you come in to have it fitted next Tuesday?".

I rest my case. New Zealand is a lunatic asylum of the most delightful kind. Of course in Dunedin, one expects familiarity and kindness bordering on the embarrassing. But this all happened in Wellington. Extraordinary. And, by the way. I think that banks can do insurance rather well.

Update on the "Zealandia Programme"

The media picked up on the story today in the Dompost
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6112198/Pest-free-sanctuaries-could-avert-disaster
and on Radio New Zealand
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20111209-0909-a_proposal_to_create_wildlife_sanctuaries_modelled_on_zealandia-048.mp3
Meanwhile, the Associate Minister for Possums and Weasels has seen fit to respond
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/93352/dunne-defends-new-conservation-role

Zealandia, 1080 and our forests

This year, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, released her report on the state of our indigenous forests. Let me quote

"It is seldom that I come to such a strong conclusion at the end of an investigation. But the possums, rats and stoats that have invaded our country will not leave of their own accord. Much of our identity as New Zealanders, along with the clean green brand with which we market our country to the world, is based on the ecosystems these pests are bent on destroying.

We cannot allow our forests to die."

The critical point at issue is the declining use of 1080 poison to remove possums, mustelids and rats. The map shows the vanishingly small part (dark green) of our conservation estate (light green) which is subject to pest eradication.

Jan Wright again:

"It is my view based on careful analysis of the evidence that not only should the use of 1080 continue (including in aerial operations) to protect our forests, but that we should use more of it."

The scientific evidence strongly supports the use and safety of 1080, as explained in the report, and in some simple FAQs on the Forest and Bird Society website
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/files/file/1080_FAQ_july2007.pdf

Yet in doing a deal with an MP outspoken in his antagonism to the use of 1080, our Prime Minister has just made this enemy of our forests and native wildlife Associate Minister for Conservation. By this action, John Key has made clear his indifference to the disaster facing our native fauna.

Tonight I spoke to a donors meeting at Zealandia (the Karori wildlife Sanctuary) about the Sanctuary Vision and its importance for New Zealand. The extraordinary discovery that we have made with Zealandia is that a halo of birds has been generated in its wider vicinity, because of the 1080 killing of predators in the surrounding forest carried out by the regional council. The lesson is not lost on Jim Lynch, the visionary who founded the sanctuary concept. Why not repeat such experience in our conservation estate, perhaps 12 100,000 ha 1080-controlled outer zones, with a 1,000 ha fenced predator free core in which native birds can flourish and spread to the outer zone? We could cover 15% of our conservation estate in this way, at a cost of no more than 20% of the current biodiversity budget of the Department of Conservation.

I will work with Jim to promote these "Lynch-Zealandia" zones. Our "Associate Minister for Possums and Weasels" might be surprised to discover that we New Zealanders care about our unique heritage. The Kiwi, the Takahe, the Kokako, the Tuatara, these are our Stonehenge, our Lascaux cave paintings, our Great Wall.

If you haven't been to Zealandia lately, go there. It's wonderful. And on a gentler note, here are John Lekner and Mary Redmayne standing outside the boundary fence last weekend, following a stroll with Miang and me amongst the birdsong.

15 days, but I would have preferred longer

It's been a difficult week. It started well enough, with a trip to Auckland on Monday to speak at an international innovation conference, and a highly entertaining working lunch in Wellington hosted by Trade Minister Tim Groser in honour of some European investment bankers. Luminaries present included the Treasury Secretary and the Chair of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. It seemed that they needed a scientist to add some unpredictability to the occasion. I managed the soup and soft fish. On Wednesday evening Miang and I were at the black tie Engineering awards dinner where I had to speak and present to some winners. I'm not sure if it was the asparagus tips, relentlessly chewed, or the soft brownie which I ate for dessert, all of course under Miang's strict supervision, but the next morning, while sitting in the sunshine at Karanga clinic connected to a vitamin C IV line, I felt the unmistakable pangs which are the precursor to a bowel blockage. I had gone 15 days, a record since these obstructions started in mid-September, but a desperate disappointment nonetheless.

I was due to fly to Auckland the next day for another speaking engagement, at a Competitiveness conference, and with the PM speaking in the same session. I relished the chance to lay out some of the paradoxes of New Zealand's innovation sector, but it was pointless to even think of it. I rang and pulled out as the periodic pain grew greater during the afternoon. The obstruction finally passed about 2 am. I stayed at home and recuperated the next day.

Cancelling engagements is now becoming a regular business. I was supposed to go to Australia from Tuesday to Thursday to present a Young Investigator Award at the ANZMAG (Australian-New Zealand Magnetic Resonance) conference held at Torquay near Melbourne. Anticipating the very problems which did indeed eventuate, I pulled out of that meeting a couple of weeks ago. What I didn't realise was that they would name the medal and prize after me. Petrik Galvosas made the presentation on my behalf.

This is becoming bizarre. We now have two medals in my name, after the RSNZ award to Peter Gluckman. Now the Wellington Rotary Club has instituted a Prize in my name to be awarded to secondary school science students and the MacDiarmid Institute is talking about a "Callaghan Fellowship." I blame Heretaunga College who started this madness back in March when they named a new science building after me.

All the recognition carries with it a surreal sense that I should be looking down on events post mortem. I have no eagerness to acquire this state but have had little encouraging medical news to the contrary. My physicians believe that the repeated obstructions indicate disease (cancer) around the small intestine and the discomfort I now feel within does nothing to dispel that diagnosis. A PET-CT scan in early January will provide some insight. Whether that leads to further surgery or chemotherapy is a matter to be determined.

Still, the week finished well with a visit from Rod and Joan Lambert, and a meeting, at their Wellington hotel, with Joanna and Kerry Lawson who were down from Auckland for the weekend. Jo is in her late 40s, has had metastatic bowel cancer for four years, two peritonectomies, and is still surviving well despite elevated CEA and apparent ongoing disease. She is an inspiration to me.

A wee dram

In 1907, Ernest Shackleton, aboard Nimrod, landed his Antarctic exploration party at Cape Royds in McMurdo Sound. He nearly made it to the pole in January 1909, he and 3 companions getting to 88° 23′ S, 190 kms short, before turning back because of supply limitations. The Nimrod returned later in 1909, to bring the party home. In departing they left a case of whisky under their hut, a case that was not discovered until 2010 when members of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust were carrying out restoration work under the hut floor.

Here the story gets interesting. Heritage Trust Chair, Paul East, had the idea that the whisky could provide a means of generating funds and raised the matter in conversation with UK High Commissioner to New Zealand. It turned out that High Commissioner, Vicki Treadwell, knew the Indian owner of Whyte and Mackay, the distillers who own the “Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Whisky” brand that Shackelton left behind, and knew that he was desperate to acquire a bottle. And so the deal was done. Whyte and Mackay agreed to recreate a replica blend. The story is well told by Rebecca Priestley in the following article:
http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/science/ernest-shackletons-100-year-old-whisky/

On Wednesday night Miang and I dined at the UK High Commission, in honour of visiting UK entrepreneur Professor Sir Mike Brady. At the end of the dinner, Vicki (next to me in the picture) astonished us all by producing a bottle of the replica, offering everyone a wee dram. It was delicious!

Remarkably, it is day 11 after my last bowel obstruction and I am doing well. Long may it continue.

PS: The election is now done. Turnout was poor. The polls were largely right and the current governing National party has been returned to power. The main opposition Labour party had a difficult job running against a popular Prime Minister, lost some support, and they will now have to rebuild. The Green party increased its share of the vote to just over 10%. The referendum returned a clear win for the current (German) voting system of Mixed Member Proportional representation.

The sixth and seventh age

Each day since the last obstruction on Wednesday 16 November, I have been eating baby food. I have bland little purees or specially labelled "for 1 year olds" yoghurts, or for something really daring, some Chinese rice porridge with some tofu broken up in it. Shakespeare understood all this, when through Jaques "All the world's a stage" speech in "As you like it" he wrote of the ages of of man

The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Never mind. I survive well on baby food and here I am nearly 6 days later, with the plumbing still functioning.

And there are friends and family to enjoy. On Saturday Merle and Sam came down from Marton. It was a beautiful day in Wellington and I took them to Zealandia, their first visit. They loved it, seeing Tui, Tuatara, Kaka, Takahe and a Kingfisher. Here they are with the female and male Takahe. Only 100 of these birds remain in existence-they were thought extinct until discovered in the Murchison Mountains of the South Island in 1948.

Merle is an embroiderer and quilter. This masterpiece is her latest, the 12 days of Christmas represented in each panel. It won the "people's choice" award in a recent exhibition.

On Sunday we drove over the Rimutaka range to visit Miles and Maria in Featherston, taking in lunch at the Tauherenikau pub (blended soup for Paul). It was a great chance to catch up, and to discuss the current state of politics, the general election being just 6 days away.

Tauranga Moana and Hector's Dolphin

Last weekend Miang and I spent a wonderful time with sister Jeanine and brother-in-law Murray. The pictures show us on the walk beside the Uretara river as it passes through the wetlands to the sea. The place is almost idyllic, quiet, beautiful and with abundant birds flying over and nesting in the marshes.

Miang and I had taken advantage of my invitation to give an after dinner speech at the Federation of Maori Authorities (FoMA) conference in Mt Maunganui to travel to Tauranga and spend time with family. Jeanine went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that I kept to my strict diet.

The FoMA event was impressive with around 500 people present. There were two dinner speakers, first Waka Vercoe, who spoke in both Maori and English, finishing with a Waiata from Apirana Ngata, and then a recitation of Edward Lear's "Owl and the Pussycat", which he had learned as a child at Te Teko primary school, as bizarre an educational experience for a young Maori child as one might imagine. Notwithstanding that he claimed a belated affection for the poem and delivered all three verses with perfect recollection and diction. I spoke later on, reflecting on the renewed Maori economy and related issues, finishing with the famous Apirana Ngata "He Tangata" whakatauki . The audience was generous and I was much hongied afterwards.

Wednesday this week was the Science Awards dinner where I was supposed to present the inaugural Royal Society of New Zealand "Callaghan Medal" for Science Communication to Sir Peter Gluckman. Sadly, I suffered another obstruction event that day it was impossible for us to attend.

The medal was made by Fattorini of Birmingham and the picture shows the initial test striking. The final is in bronze. I haven't seen the actual medal yet. You may be able to recognise me on the head side. The obverse shows a representation of Hector's Dolphin, surrounded by electron orbital paths, each electron containing a koru. Yes, I know the electron is an elementary particle singularity, but I didn't feel the argument was worth having.

CEA continues to rise

The latest data is unwelcome. The rise in CEA continues, now 49.8 ng/ml, at the same level where major metastatic disease was apparent in early 2010. Where I go from here I am not certain. I am consulting with my surgeon and my oncologist over the next couple of weeks.

On the knife edge

I was released from hospital on Sunday, armed with a diet advice sheet. On Tuesday afternoon I filmed three lectures on the subject of "Science and its Human Context", part of a summer course I am teaching over the web. Each lecture is about 30 minutes long, with the topics "Science and Humanity", "What is Science?" and"The Value and Values of Science". They are public domain and can be viewed through the following links:

SCIE 201 - 02 Science and Humanity

http://mdsweb.vuw.ac.nz/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=1c16cef06418446eb2c48c9bb075cc42

SCIE 201 - 02 What is Science?
http://mdsweb.vuw.ac.nz/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=0ffea10bddf3426684a1e990ab27af92

SCIE 201 - 03 The Value and the Values of Science
http://mdsweb.vuw.ac.nz/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=8e7f4b52a12349eea0ccd2fe8fa099e4

On Wednesday evening Miang and I went to Zealandia, the predator free enclosure in Karori, to visit Sirocco, the Kakapo superstar. There are only 130 Kakapo left on planet earth. A flightless parrot weighing in at around 4 kg, the Kakapo was once the third major source of protein for pre-European Maori. Sirocco is particularly famous because, having been brought up by humans, he thinks is is one, and occasionally wishes to mate with them. To learn more about this, see the youtube clip from BBC series "Last chanc

e to see" where Sirocco takes a fancy to Stephen Fry's cameraman. This clip has had over 3 million views!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY

My bowel functioned fine through to Wednesday but on Thursday morning I awoke with wind pain and a swelling in the abdomen. It was another obstruction though less severe than the week before. It finally passed about 10 pm. The worrying aspect is that this episode happened despite my following the low fibre diet. I am now on an even more conservative diet and still, I am having difficulty.

FOOTNOTE: Monday 14 November: After a weekend of "baby puree" food my bowel is functioning superbly. I'll stick with this cautious approach for a few weeks in the hope of coaxing the plumbing back to a more robust state.

Crime and Punishment

My latest obstruction caused such alarm that sister Mary flew over from Melbourne and joined sister Jeanine to drive down from Tauranga. Their visit cheered me immensely and gave welcome support to Miang.

I was finally discharged on Sunday with no greater insight as a result of the X-ray CT scan. There is a suggestion of further disease sites and the nodule in the lung has continued to grow, suggesting that it may be another site of metastatic disease. As for the bowel, clear evidence of distended loops was found, but no obvious site of obstruction. It could be that my problem is diseased bowel, but the pattern of rapid recovery between the six obstruction episodes suggests that scar tissue may indeed be the cause.

Most importantly, we need to identify triggers in the diet. Until speaking to the hospital dietitian, the last two episodes had been a mystery. I had thought I needed large insoluble items like peanuts or unchewed segments of hard fruit. What I have learned is that seeds and pips are enough to cause the problem. On Tuesday evening, after speaking at the Poutama Maori Business Hui dinner in Auckland, I was presented, by an ex Massey student of mine, with a gift of two Muesli bars made by this young man's company. In my hotel that evening I devoured one. It was utterly delicious.

My crime was discovered. The other bar of this pair was left in my suitcase, only to be found by Miang when she unpacked my belongings following my admission to hospital. Being the food scientist she is, she dissected the bar. Her photograph reveals all.

You will be able to read the wrapping label. Apart from being labelled "organic" I can find no other fault with this product, and if you happen to be favoured by not suffering from bowel obstructions, I can highly recommend it.

In hospital

I am currently in Wellington Hospital after another bowel obstruction on Wednesday. I am likely to be here until Saturday or Sunday. I have had another CT scan and the radiologists and surgeons are trying to ascertain whether the cause is scar tissue adhesion or disease. The outlook is a bit uncertain and it is likely that this will be a recurring problem.

[Posted by Catherine on Paul's behalf]

Roger Kerr

My friend, Roger Kerr, died on October 28 after a year-long struggle with melanoma.

I came to know Roger partly as a result of our shared experience with cancer, but also because of my current preoccupation with the New Zealand economy. I made contact with Roger after he wrote to me, telling me where my economics was a bit weak, and advising me which books I needed to read. We arranged to meet over coffee and clearly enjoyed each other's company. And I grew to know and admire Roger's wife Catherine Isaac through our shared work as Zealandia Trustees.

Before Miang and I went to the UK we had dinner with Roger and Catherine in their Kelburn home. Roger and I corresponded by email about my project in Cambridge, but over that time his condition deteriorated. When returned to New Zealand, Roger was gravely ill.

Roger Kerr CNZM, was, until his death, CEO of the New Zealand Business Roundtable. Before that he had held senior posts in Foreign Affairs and the Treasury. He was what is known as an "economic liberal". We disagreed on economic and political philosophy, but we respected and liked each other. Last year, in supporting Rogers nomination for a New Zealand Honour, I wrote

Roger is one of New Zealand’s outstanding economic thinkers, and a person who has rendered great service to his country ...I make this recommendation even though I personally do not agree with much of Roger’s economic philosophy. But what I greatly admire and respect about Roger Kerr, professionally, is his scholarship, his keen intellect, his honesty and his dedication to New Zealand. On a personal level, he is a thoroughly decent and kind man and someone I like and trust. Most importantly Roger’s contribution has been to lift the standard of the national conversation about our economic future, avoiding cliché, shallow thinking and comfortable mythology. There is a robustness to his analysis, and a dedication to debating ideas rather than dealing in personalities or ideology, that is immensely important to our country. Roger lifts the standard of our thinking and the way in which we are able to debate important disagreements. In that sense he offers vital leadership.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Roger’s outstanding courage, in the face of professional criticism, and in the most remarkable manner in which he is facing his current health challenge. It is at a time like this that one often sees the true mark of an individual. He displays the finest qualities of determination, optimism, and an ability to quickly grasp the details of a new situation, while bravely facing physical and mental difficulty. In my view Roger Kerr is a truly great New Zealander, a towering intellect and thought leader, and a role model."

In a recent interview with the New Zealand Herald, Roger commented on our friendship.

Kerr reveals the two men have bonded over their fates, even though Callaghan is widely regarded as a "leftie". Kerr insists they have more in common than it might appear. "Paul has been going on about prosperity for New Zealand and I think that's terrific. I said to him a while back: 'If both of us are alive in 12 months' time, I'd be very happy to talk to you a bit more about the way you're telling the prosperity story because with a bit of tweaking I could help you to make it a better, more persuasive kind of story'." If asked, he admits, Callaghan would probably say their economic beliefs were quite different. "But I think, with more conversations, he would find that we're not that far apart."

I'll leave the last word to Roger on this.

How is this for a job?

On Wednesday I flew to Gisborne with Glenda Lewis, Di McCarthy and Lydia Wevers, and we then drove to Tolaga Bay as part of the preparations for the Transit of Venus project in June 2012. It was a chance to connect again with the local Te Aitanga-a Hauiti people of Tolaga Bay (see blog Thursday March 17, 2011). I joined local Tolaga Bay Area school children in planting native shrubs at the Uawa river mouth

In the afternoon we boarded the East Cape Coast Guard boat "Paratene Ngata", named after much loved local Dr Pat Ngata who died of cancer in 2009. Also on board was Runanga CEO Victor Walker, an inspirational local leader. The picture shows Victor and me with Motu o Rae rocks in the background. We are at almost the exact spot where James Cook moored Endeavour in October 1769.

On the next day we met with Gisborne community leaders, following which I flew to Auckland for an appointment with the Royal New Zealand Navy.

I was met by two Midshipmen (cadet officers) who drove me to the Devonport Naval Base, where I was to be after dinner speaker at a gathering of 70 naval officers including the Chief of Navy, Rear-Admiral Tony Parr. My talk seemed to be well-received and I was plied with great hospitality in the mess afterwards. After sleeping in the "VIP Cabin" I had breakfast with Tony and other senior officers. The picture shows me with Tony to my left and Devonport Naval Base CO Captain Corina Bruce to my right. To Tony's left is Captain Jim Gilmour who has just completed a tour as commander of an international anti-piracy naval task force off the Somali Coast. The conversation over breakfast was far removed from Trinity High Table! It certainly was not boring.

The most extraordinary aspect of my visit was the experience of being saluted, first by the Executive Officer, after my morning tour of the Naval Base, and then, at the airport, by the young Midshipman who kindly drove me there, in the Admiral's car. This was respect unearned, to say the least.

PS: The naval rank of Captain is equivalent to Colonel in the Army or Group Captain in the Airforce, Commodore, the rank held by the Deputy Chief of Navy, being equivalent to Brigadier and Air Commodore respectively. An unfamiliar element of dinner conservation for me for me was the way these highly experienced senior officers would always drop in the occasional "Sir" when conversing with the Admiral.

October 23 2011

24 years it has taken. It was a nail-biter of a game in which France was magnificent.The whole of New Zealand has heaved a collective sigh of relief. Had we lost, the gloom would have been too much to bear.

It's hard to explain why the nation's well being should depend so much on a game. To understand that it is necessary to know the sorry history of New Zealand disappointment in the 5 Rugby World Cups since 1987, the last time we won.

Enough. It is done.

My unusual experiment-a few months on

In September I came home to New Zealand to give my Town Hall lecture. While at home I took another intravenous vitamin C treatment (IVC) and recorded as much on my blog. On my return to Cambridge I received a telephone call from a Dominion Post reporter who said she was writing a story on my IVC treatment as a result of what she had read on my blog. I pointed out that the blog was intended for family and friends, but she argued that anything on the internet was public domain and that they would do the story whether I liked it or not.

I gave her a brief, noncommittal statement, and the following story resulted as a front page piece on the Dominion Post. I have been deluged with mail from alternative medicine supporters and have even received strange bottles of liquid through the mail from well-meaning enthusiasts.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/5664298/Sir-Paul-Callaghans-unusual-experiment

I have since been asked for further media interviews but declined the Television freak shows and have waited to clarify the matters raised in a suitable radio interview, which I will do with Kim Hill this coming Saturday, when we discuss my leave, my new book project, and my latest cancer developments.

So, that brings me to my unusual experiment. The latest CEA data is in. I have had a small rise, at a lower rate than expected. As I informed blog readers, my CEA is the indicator "dial" and my experimental "knobs" are IVC and Chinese medicine. Over the last few months, largely due to circumstance, I have managed to separate the effects of these. The one factor which correlates with lowering the CEA level or its rate of rise, is not it seems the IVC, but the Chinese Herbal medicine. I had this medicine consistently for a period of two weeks before I left for the UK, completing the liquid prescription I had brought back from Singapore. I then had to wait for a new powdered prescription to be sent, with import licences and "medsafe" clearance to be arranged. The package of powdered Chinese medicine arrived in New Zealand after my departure on sabbatical in July. I brought this back with me to the UK after my September visit home, and hence was able to take the Singapore Chinese medicine over my last four weeks in the UK, though I did so at half the dosage recommended.

All this correlates remarkably with the response on the dial. But a correlation is not proof of causality. It may all be coincidence. But I will certainly take the Chinese medicine a little more seriously as my experiment progresses.