Accessing non-CCK fields in a rule condition

Sorry if this has been addressed before, but I've been unsuccessful in finding a solution. Here's the sitch: I'm using NodeExpire and I'm trying to make it so that when the value of the NodeExpire date field is increased by the user, the content gets published.
Problem is, that field isn't a CCK field so I can't use Field has changed and I can't seem to make it work using either Execute custom PHP code or Numeric comparison. It also doesn't have a token, so I can't get to it that way.
I'm pretty much an idiot when it comes to php and I don't know how to make custom tokens.
I know I could just give the users access to the Publish checkbox, but I'd rather not show them the other stuff that comes along with that permission (authoring, revisions, sticky, etc.)

Any ideas would be much appreciated. Note: I don't have admin access to the base Drupal install, so I can't change anything behind the scenes.

Thanks!