Most of you know how rich I have been in gifts these past couple of years since I got sick. Gifts of all sorts – friendship, money, presents, visits, and especially patience & understanding – and of course a lot of this sort of generosity usually can’t be paid back in kind. But you can pay it forward.

I got a chance to do this the other day. After my wild night out on Thursday, Nog & I were coming home around 1.30 in the morning and I was surprised to see an old friend, Pepe, standing outside Bar Campanario. He used to own the place, but for years now it’s been run by my friend Maria Paz, with some help from her sister Elena. And suddenly there was everyone out in the street at this strange hour. I hadn’t seen Pepe in a couple of years and when I asked how he was doing it was a shock to hear that he’d just found out he has cancer…

It turns out he’d gone to the doctor with a bad sore throat and after tests he was diagnosed with having lung cancer. I don’t know the details, what stage, etc, but I recognised the look on his face. Not because I’d seen it before, but because I knew how it felt on the inside. And when I found out that he was going to have surgery on Tuesday at the private hospital that almost killed me two years ago I begged him to get checked out at Virgen del Rocio, telling him that the public hospitals are always better equipped and have the best surgeons … what an ass! Because, for reasons that are too complicated to go into here, Pepe doesn’t have social security here. Well, fuck. I felt horrible for making him even more afraid, but everyone said they would look into how Pepe could get social security coverage.

Next morning María Paz called me asking where Pepe was supposed to go to see if he was eligible for social security (I told her) and then asked if I could call someone I knew in Oncology after I suggested he just go to emergency at Virgen del Rocio and ask to see an oncologist. Well, right. I sure wasn’t about to call up Dr Ana to ask her for a favour, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about that look on Pepe’s face… so I called Ricardo.

You may recall that about ten years ago I was giving English classes at the hospital, in the Nuclear Medicine department, to Ricardo (da boss), Isabel (second in command) and Pilar (doctor) … and eventually we also became friends. In fact once Ricardo bailed me out of a very bad credit card debt situation by co-signing a bank loan for me – I’d been at the point where my monthly payments barely covered the interest! – and four years later I was out of debt. And both Ricardo and Pilar took part in my weekend Intensive English days, which were a lot of fun. But I digress.

I remember going to the hospital to teach and having to pass all the cancer patients waiting for their PET scans, and it would always make me a bit sad. I never thought that I’d end up one of those patients myself. But I tell ya, after the private hospital finally sent me over to V del R at midnight for emergency surgery first thing in the morning (they were not capable of performing such a dangerous surgery) it was like seeing three angels when the curtains in the observation room were pulled open that morning and I saw Ricardo, Isabel and Pilar all standing there, with Ricardo saying … “what the heck have you been up to?” and Isabel telling me she checked which surgeon was on that morning and I was getting the best of the best … and I had never felt so relieved in my entire life.

Flash forward to yesterday morning. After María Paz called me I was hesitant to call Ricardo because I really didn’t know what he’d be able to do for someone with no social security … and in fact, that was what he ended up telling me. But when he found out Pepe has lung/throat cancer he said to me – “You are not going to believe this”.  As Ricardo explained to me, in “the system” doctors are automatically retired at age 65 but some of them continue working elsewhere. And this particular doctor went on to work at this private hospital. The best part is this … Ricardo said that by utter chance Pepe had managed to bag the best thoracic surgeon in all of Sevilla! He said to me – “tell him not to change a thing, not to try and come here, because he is in the very best hands”. He also said that Pepe could mention his name the next time he spoke to the surgeon.

I immediately called María Paz and told her this rather astounding good news – I mean, what are the odds? – and she couldn’t wait to call Pepe and Elena. And so, the surgery will go on as scheduled on Tuesday. And I’m going to plan my visit to talk to Ricardo about my next scan for Thursday, so I can pop over and visit Pepe (the private hospital is just around the corner from V del R).

And dammit – that made me feel so good. Because I know how much it means to have a personal connection to your doctor and surgeon, even just a slight one. And also having a personal recommendation for the surgeon from a friend of your friend … trust me, it all helps. And so I got a chance to pay something forward.

And I wanted to tell you guys because you have given me so much in various ways. Just so you know that it hasn’t stopped there. I thought it might make you feel good that you also got a chance to help out Pepe.