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Chapter 8- When the Holidays Come Around (December, 2005) Jason ~~~~~ Christmas Eve of 2005. One afternoon that, I swear to Christ, I’ll never forget. Skye was ten years old. She lay on the couch holding twenty-two month old Sydney in her arms. I was busy taking pictures of our Christmas tree. When you have a wife and child with cancer, capturing every moment is important. Skye had an old blanket wrapped over her and Sydney. “Dad,” She murmured. I turned around. “Yeah, Blue Skye?” she looked even more pale than usual. I took Sydney from her and felt her burning hot, bald head. “Babe, you feeling okay?” she shook her head and collapsed head on into my free arm. Sydney seemed to sense something wrong and began to cry. Her screaming would be piercing to someone with an aural impairment. “Anna! Come here, now!” I yelled for Anna. She came down the hall, weak and worn out from her latest procedure, frantic from hearing the sound of my yelling. “What happened?!” She yelled, staring at our oldest daughter collapsed in my left arm, and our youngest daughter screaming in my right arm. “She collapsed,” I said, not knowing what else to say. Anna hastily, but gently, took Sydney from my arm and I threw Skye over my shoulder. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Excuse me, nurse?! We need help, my daughter has leukemia and she collapsed!” I yelled frantically to the nurse. My family was used to this kind of thing, but the terrifying feeling when it actually happens never fades. “Okay, sir, calm down. What is your daughter’s latest history Page 34 here?” The young nurse attempted to calm me down. I told the nurse about everything Skye had recently been through medical wise in a matter of thirty seconds. The medical team was soon wheeling unconscious Skye to a room in the cancer care wing of the hospital. The rest of us were restricted to the waiting for the moment. I wrapped my arm around Anna, who was shaking like a leaf. “Don’t worry, babe. She’ll be okay,” I assured her, unsure of my own words. Maddie climbed on to my lap and stared right at me. “What’s wrong with Skye?” She asked me with her big, blue eyes glistening at me. I half-smiled. “She’s not feeling well, but she’ll be a-okay before we know it.” she smiled and snuggled up to my chest. “I just wish that I were in her place,” Anna mused, on the verge of a breakdown. “Shh, don’t say that. If you think like that, you’ll both be in her condition,” I told her sternly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skye and Anna had two different doctors. Dr. Actonel was Skye’s physician, a grey-haired, older man with years of wrinkles. He’s the nicest man you could meet, and sharp as a tack. Dr. Samuelson was Anna’s doctor. She was also older, with red hair and barely five foot tall. She was very smart as well, though a chatterbox at times. Dr. Actonel came into the room with a worried look. “Good Evening, Jason and Anna. How are you?” He attempted to make small talk. “How is she?” I jumped right to the topic of Skye. Dr. Actonel took a deep breath. “I know that you’re aware that Skye has been in renal failure for three months now, “ he started out. I nodded, he spoke the truth. “Well, she’s at the peak of her renal failure. Her kidney is Page 35 pretty much shut down.” “Well, doesn’t that mean she needs a kidney transplant?” Anna asked, knowing from her own experience where Dr. Actonel’s diagnosis was headed. He sighed and nodded. “You’re correct, Anna. That’s exactly what she needs, and within the next month.” my stomach dropped my entire height of six feet and my nerves intensified. “The problem is,” Dr. Actonel continued. “Where is the kidney going to come from?” a light bulb went off on the upstairs level, if you know what I mean, and I knew the only good answer to that question. I would be the donor, an unrelated donor was just plain out of the question. “I’ll be the donor,” I said without thinking over it any more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The days until the transplant went by way too fast. We had family over for Christmas Day, and tried our hardest to keep things normal. Skye was confined to the couch. “All right, this one is for Skye!” Announced my brother, Alex, as he handed Skye a gift box. She beamed and ripped the paper off with full force. The present was from Anna’s mother and was a black and white striped jacket with fake fur on the hood. It was big, so she could grow into it. Believe it or not, but it actually gets pretty cold here in Texas during the winter. “Grandma, I love it!” Skye exclaimed. “Thank you!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The day of the transplant finally came. I think I was more nervous than Skye. “It’s going to be alright,” I kept assuring her. “Okay, dad,” She said, not entirely convinced. Neither was I. Before I knew it, we were being wheeled into the operating room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Page 36 Dr. Actonel told us after the surgery that everything had gone well. “This kidney is definitely going to help her,” He said. “You’ve done an incredible thing, Mr. Kaighn.” I looked at Anna and smiled. “As long as these two are both alive and well.” We were aloud to go home one week after the surgery. Doctors and nurses gave us both plenty of hugs. “I don’t want to see either one of you ladies here again, unless it’s to say howdy!” Joked one of the male nurses, James. As we walked out, I lifted Skye on to my bag and ran her to the car. Anna just laughed as she followed behind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xx-Musicaholic-xX · Tue Feb 09, 2010 @ 11:22pm · 0 Comments |
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