Jake Bailey by Jake Bailey

Author:Jake Bailey [Bailey, Jake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143770879
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

10

HAPPY (?) HOLIDAYS

IT DEFINITELY IS THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS

The week before Christmas I had to go back into hospital, so Mum bought me a Santa suit to entertain the nurses. It was not just any Santa suit, though — it had tiny red velvet shorts with white fluffy bits on them and a skimpy tight top. I wore it into the hospital and had everyone in fits.

With the jokes all done, I was back on a 24-hour dose of chemotherapy. I had to take the pump with me whenever I went to the toilet or if I went for a walk, and being hooked up to it meant that I couldn’t roll over in bed. It was so frustrating, especially after having had two weeks of the freedom of being at home. But that wasn’t the end of it — after an entire day of getting the stuff pumped into me, I had to spend the next 48 hours on intravenous fluids to flush it back out. Not really the way I’d envisaged spending the week before Christmas, that’s for sure.

One amazing thing about being in hospital just before Christmas was that people were so kind. The ward cleaner, who was a lovely lady, came in to see me and brought me a box of chocolates. When I was in hospital her smile used to brighten up my days every time I saw her. We’d chat a bit if I was feeling up to it and if I wasn’t feeling well we didn’t, but she had this lovely presence that just cheered me up. The fact that she’d thought of me at Christmas moved me so much.

Because I’d just had such a big dose of chemo, no one was sure if I’d be allowed to go home for Christmas. That, combined with Jem being in Perth with her family, meant it was a pretty bad time all around for me. I was feeling really down, but there was one little bright spot — a person from one of the cancer charities came in and said, ‘I’ve got a Christmas present for you!’ I was pretty excited to see what they’d got me. She handed over this big gift and said, ‘Good luck getting home for Christmas Day, and I’ll see you after Christmas!’ Then she carried on with her rounds.

As soon as she left, I ripped into the parcel, paper flying everywhere. I was so excited. When I saw my gift I couldn’t stop laughing — in the box was shampoo, conditioner and hair gel. Whoever donated that must not have realised it was going to someone having chemotherapy. I had not a single hair on my whole body — well, except for my eyebrows. This was enough to clean my eyebrows for life! I saw the funny side, although I do wish they’d just given me a nice pair of socks.

As it turned out, I got to go home a bit later that day. A mate in hospital wasn’t so lucky.

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