CHRISTMAS IN HOSPITAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19524, 31 December 1926, Page 14

CHRISTMAS IN HOSPITAL

PATIENT'S IMPRESSIONS* . J r ■ J ; ' A HAPPY EXPERIENCE. ; 7" BT XT. Phase I—The preliminaries were th§/y usual ones—illness, distress, inefficiency at work, breakdown, the doctor, X-:ra\i examination, the verdict: "Medical treati-. merit, may stave ifc off, but the ultimstcremedy will bo operation, and that is tho J ' - only effectual resort now." Christmas jtp' hospital! .What a prospect! From that time on all joyful discus.!?" sions of Christmas plans made in hearing ended with the sympathetic,, if" not. cheering, comment, "How cruel arc to talk over our holiday schemes,, when you are to have your Christmas ;rf> hospital!" All guests and sympathetic ; callers departed with, '"Well, a Merry Christmas—or as merry as may be -in... hospital." • Phase ll.—Coming into hospital on" Sunday was quite a cheerful matter, pe-. ' positions made and signed. I was takari. to my ward, had a chart, headed up,-; gave assurance that I had had a *thorotipfc? bath', and was put to bed. Here for ;t 1 while I became a participant in cheer fuli conversation and a witness, and only., of the enjoyment of tempting art<£appetising meals. Preparations meanwhilif'' went on for my debut; at the hospital■ theatre, as - -I soon made it. generally' known that I was due for "the pictures' l , on Monday morning. Thanks to, expert, nursing, skilful and considerate itnnosr thesia and marvellous surgery, I w>kd up well, clear headed and [fee from dis. -: comfort front 1 the quiet sleep into whiclp; I had drifted at the theatre and, alihotigli mine was decidedly a major operation, ( can honestly say eight days later that. J'' have not experienced pain, nausea of\ distress of any kind since coming here.

Active Preparations. Phase Hl.—-As Christinas approached,* patients capable of such work wer| r; handed rolls of crepe paper in narrow strips and instructed in certain twists and .squeezes designed to give definite effects, dictated by the artistic sense ofc. the nurses. Serious men were soon busvr producing streamers of various colours - and showy appearand?. Christmas Evf; found nurses, porters and up-and-about" patients busy erecting lines of tUess streamers and .converting each wall.

bracket info a giant flower, from th&', heart of •which thought gleamed rosily; Evergreens and flowers completed a sceni really gay and beautiful. Evidences of the progress of similar activities'in other wards were not want- ■ ing. ■ "Have , you seen No, 16?" "Whai do you think of No. 7?" "Isn't No, 3 lovely!" Such remarks, exchanged among nurses and up-nnd-abouts and i"r«v; quent visitors from various parts of thj hospital, standing speculatively at tin door and. manifestly endeavouring men. tally to transfer certain cited s in ova ward to other environments—these and other signs ,in the air clearly indicated that all' was busy in othef quarters. * Meanwhile, what of the sit-up-in-bed patients ? Each was provided with a dish, a huge newspaper parcel of green pea;;, and a paper to hold empty pods and wax busy shelling peas, showing that Christmnj was to bo made to, appeal to other than,; tha aesthetic in us. . An Honoured Patient Long before eight o'clock a,ll -viaibile preparations for the advent of 'Christmak wen complete and shortly after lights out new patient was admitted to .our ward;. Tenderly, and in orthodox style, ho was lifted into a bed and snuggled down with due ceremony, a patient in whom ,111 recognised their V>l« friend r.rid benefactor, Santa Clans,' He was viewed by members of the medical staff and a chart, was. placed at the liead of his bed and from Unit moment was an honoured patient and object of flattering care and attention. • Any remaining vestiges of ,the misgivings as to Christmas in hospital that hud daikened Phase I. were by this time fast becoming very nebulous/ /- Phase IV,--In hospital, contrary to fJI preconceived ideas, the day's activities commence very ' early. Every capable of taking, any interest in his sur-' roundings found at his. bedside a gift, ami; in this ward of serious adults, as* wif after another awoke to theii' were heard the squeaks and, squawks ci* various birds and animals, tip whirr aril rattle of motors and meehanrcal aninuliji and the sound of the trtinipefc and tin drum, while humorous inquiries and jocular comments •on the gifts; were, passed around. -»4 Official and Other Visitors. As the day advanced the spirit that, had animated the preparations began to manifest itself in a new cheer beaming; from the faces of the nurses and the members of the staff and marking the day aV. a day apart,, "Official visit by membeu. oi the board" has a decidedly chilly suggestion of formality and dignity emphatically not cheering or uplifting. It .proved in: keeping with the whole spirit of the day. How could it be other wis® -when'the spirit of' Christmas Was in it;; prompting tact, which dictated unto*. standing and sympathetic inquiries and-* remarks at every bedside? Then the Christmas cheer within and the Christmas spirit animating of visitors and prompting their gifts and all day the interest in our decorations and the attention given to Santa Glaus (?v young android were highly cheering'and entertaining. He had, of course, troops of children to see him, to whom various reasons for his admission were given, ranging from a fall down a chimney' to she or overwork on their behalf. . ' Well, what of it ? Is there such a thin]* as -a doleful. Christmas I Never winio t'«, Christmas spirit is abroad. Evefywhflrtf welling from the hearts of hospital staffs,makers of official visitations, cheery visi- - tors of help and sympathy, penetrating, the hospital—the place not of pain but of, restoration, the spirit" brought by the child of two thousand years ago is abun*; dantly and increasingly present ' and 'i'ny the hospital as truly as m ..the heart of. the cheeriest homo may bn intensely perienced that old and hippy consumma-" lion, a Merry Christmas.