Bucket list trip a welcome break
A 28-year-old diagnosed with stage four cancer has been able to tick off her Queenstown bucket list as her illness fails to respond to treatment.
Aucklander Gemma Malins was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in October last year.
For almost a year her doctor had dismissed her worries, telling her she just had ‘‘fat lumps’’ under her skin, she said.
As the anniversary of her diagnosis approaches, the Beachlands woman said she and her husband Brandon are ‘‘taking each day I am alive as a blessing’’.
They have just got back from the ‘‘holiday of a lifetime’’ in Queenstown, made possible by the generosity of local businesses and members of the public.
When Auckland plunged back into lockdown, the trip was under threat, but they were able to rebook their cancelled flights and only lost two days of the holiday.
They flew down on Malins’ birthday on September 7 and also celebrated her husband’s 21st birthday during the ‘‘amazing’’ holiday.
They ticked off horse riding, a helicopter ride, seeing kiwi, cruising on the Earnslaw steamboat, and going on the gondola and luge from their bucket list.
They were also able to meet the woman who organised everything for them, having her and her husband over to their apartment for dinner and visiting their church.
But they weren’t able to completely forget Malins’ illness while they were away – she wasn’t feeling well one day and spent a few hours in hospital.
Malins said her treatment is
‘‘ticking along’’ but a lot of the tumours, which have spread throughout her body, aren’t responding and have grown.
Radiation on her brain is the next step, and she will possibly join a clinical trial.
‘‘I’m scared about the whole thing,’’ Malins said.
‘‘I could not do it without Brandon by my side.’’