Wednesday 18 December 2013

Get into the festive spirit and give to charity...

If anyone is looking for a charitable cause to donate to over Christmas please consider Maggie's Cancer Care Centres. They provide valuable support to people living with cancer. I have experienced what an amazing job they do (as I wrote in this old blog post): http://katzcam.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/where-now.html

They and Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research are my two charities of choice this festive season.

Maggie's: http://www.maggiescentres.org/maggies/maggiescentres/home/donate/donate1.html
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research: https://leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=5

Sunday 1 December 2013

My experience of skydiving from 16,500 feet and living to tell the tale ;)

Back on Terra Firma in the UK and looking at the grey skies of Winter I have been trying to relive my experiences. So I thought I'd tell you about one of my most joyous memories... Skydiving!

In April this year I took a trip to New Zealand. Deciding  to play it by ear and see what happened I turned up in Christchurch without a plan. As I walked around I was shocked to see how badly the city was still affected by the earthquake and hoped I hadn’t made a terrible mistake by not planning my trip better! The next day I managed to book a coach travelling around the South Island and I was off. Straight away we were asked whether we wanted to do a tandem sky dive. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to try something I’d always wanted to do. So without much time to back out I was kitted up and making my way up into the sky.


 Heart pounding and nearing the dropzone I was shuffled to the edge of the doorway and out I went. I can honestly say that I have never experienced anything like it! The force of air wooshing up my nose, the adrenaline coursing through my veins and the utter shock that I was freefalling at 16,500 feet stopped all thoughts for a minute except ‘Ahhhhhhhhh!’ Then my brain seemed to catch up with a wave of panic and then ‘woweee!’ Not exactly my most eloquent thought process! I’d love to do it again, maybe even go solo because when the parachute goes up and the free fall is over I just thought what an incredible experience it was. A couple of years ago I had Hodgkin Lymphoma, a form of blood cancer and at that moment of floating through the air looking down at the beautiful landscape of Abel Tasman I just wanted to shout ‘I have survived!’ I had so much to be thankful and happy for and I felt utterly elated!



Thursday 5 September 2013

Down in the basement of The British Library lies a very special place for the media geeks among us!

A few weeks ago I received a very interesting request through a tweet. Would I agree to share my experiences of cancer for an archive run by Wellcome's Oral History of Medicine? So I headed to The British Library and lent my voice for just over an hour. It was pretty cathartic if not a bit emotional to be recounting my experiences with my lovely interviewer Catriona. In many ways I have tried to put a line under my cancer. But, it was nice to feel like I'd made progress emotionally since I last really thought about it in detail.

What I really enjoyed after the interview was being allowed to look at all the lovely old recording and playback devices both audio and visual.
Having worked in the BBC for over a decade many of them looked familiar, if only I'd seen them in far flung store rooms. Although many in The British Library I'd only heard of, such as the wire recorder. It reminds me that despite these many now defunct devices being no longer of any use to many of us now, they hold a kind of charm and beauty. I hope you enjoy my photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katzupatree/sets/72157635394018162/

Oh, and joining the British Library is quite exciting! Even if the process is a bit intimidating... I swear I just joined a secret society! ;)

Saturday 2 March 2013

From one adventure to another...



1 & a half stone heavier & fatigued after Chemo
(Photo: Jo Clarke)


This time last year I was recovering from having Chemotherapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma. The battle against cancer was won but I felt utterly broken. Any sense of feeling attractive had gone. I was emotional, fatigued and couldn't imagine ever functioning as the old youthful Kat again.


52 miles at the London Bikeathon
(Photo Kat Howells)
Since then I have slowly improved. My energy has returned... enough to cycle 52 miles and walk 20 miles at two charity events less than a week apart in September; I have lost a stone and a half since my treatment (it may be more but I haven't weighed myself recently); and most dramatically I took voluntary redundancy from the BBC where I have worked for nearly 12 years.

I write this blog from the other side of the world. In January I set off on a very big adventure of a more positive kind than the one that I went through with my health.

Not a bad place to relax!
I started off in India, traveled to Thailand, Vietnam and now Malaysia. It hasn't quite been two months so I still have three and a half months and several more countries to go. I have met lots of interesting people, seen some fantastic sights, eaten delicious food and had life changing experiences. Most of all, I feel like I have turned a page. I still feel the shadow that cancer has cast on my life, not to mention the positive outcomes it brought. But I now have something more interesting and positive to talk about.

So after a couple of months of constantly moving from place to place, I am sitting in a hotel room in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia writing to you about this new adventure I am experiencing. 
Koh Samui Spa retreat
Thanks for you joining me!