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Brooke Campbell Bayes

@brookecampbellbayes

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Journalist/ Producer/🎙️Podcast host/ Snack slave. Currently busy on:
iChronic podcast @showandtellpodcasts
MAFS 👰 @endemolshineau

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I’m interrupting normal highlight programming to bring you some real life programming.And disclaimer; this is not a pity post. I’m in the process of a stem cell transplant; which involves a shit load of chemo, hence my new ‘do.I have MS and this is the last option for me, as no MS treatments have worked.I thought when the time came to surrender my hair to chemo, it would be emotional and confronting…but when it actually came time to take the shaver to those last strands, it felt amazing!I feel like I’ve taken some control back, and it feels liberating and empowering.💪While this isn’t something anyone would choose, it’s not lost on me how lucky I am to be having this transplant. There’s a strict criteria to be eligible to have this type of transplant done here in Australia, generally only one or two people are accepted each year; thousands of Aussies go to places like Russia and Mexico to have this done. So the fact I get to have it done in my hometown of Sydney, surrounded by my people, is pretty bloody amazing. I’m half way through the process, I have another six rounds of chemo and the transplant to go. After that I’ll be home-bound for roughly four- six months for recovery, but hey, I’m allowed outside, so thank god it’s summer!So life is kinda messy right now, but - and at the risk of sounding super corny - I think the mess is sometimes where you find the most meaning. It also makes you beyond grateful to the people in your corner who show up, they know who they are.❤️And also, so thankful to the amazing wigs out there! (2nd pic and last pic). They may have cost more than our mortgage, but man they look good! Not to mention the wig my amazing friends made me, with the help of my hairdressing queen @lizzogreco and @emilymaslen who sewed the hair in! In fact, I think the wigs may deserve their own post - coming soon!So I guess what they say is true, what doesn’t kill you… makes you pretty friggin grateful to be here. Bald and all. ❤️❤️❤️ by @brookecampbellbayes

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a year ago

A few new shots of the downstairs reno 💙💙💙Love the colour palette and textures we chose (after a lot of deliberation and second guessing myself!) ….can’t wait for upstairs to begin! 🏠 ⚒️ by @brookecampbellbayes

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2 years ago

Back today talking about the disgrace that is our parliament. Desperately hoping this breaking point finally equals change, but also fearing there’s a more to come. #todayextra @ninecomau by @brookecampbellbayes

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5 years ago

Please hit me with your tips and suggestions!🙏 by @brookecampbellbayes

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6 days ago

For anyone that needs to hear this today…One of my best friends sent me this video not long after I was diagnosed with MS. I nodded along, thinking, “Yep, got it.” Spoiler: I did not get it.It took me years later to get it. I had to do the work and get there in my own time. I wish I got there sooner, but I got there.Maybe it’s illness, grief, or other life curveballs, sometimes the only way out is all the way through.❤️ by @brookecampbellbayes

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13 days ago

It’s the only way for me…. And don’t even get me started on all the reasons I can’t bring myself to use a kindle for reading! by @brookecampbellbayes

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23 days ago

Making the decision to resign from my role at Nine after my MS diagnosis was seriously hard. It took me a hot minute (okay, a hot year) to come to the conclusion that many around me had already reached: I wasn’t going to be able to keep it up.Over those 12 months, I spent a week or so in hospital every couple of months, often working from my hospital bed, convinced I wasn’t going to let this diagnosis get the better of me. After all, plenty of people with MS work full-time with families, so why couldn’t I?What I eventually learned is that MS shows up differently for everyone. And it was becoming clear that for me, it wasn’t going to be straightforward. I was going need to make some changes.So I made the call. Resigning without knowing what came next felt completely foreign. Even as a teenager, I’d always known what I wanted to do. I’ve spent most of my life working towards it. Ambition and drive by the bucketload.I expected to regret my decision. I expected to question what I’d done to my career. But it never happened. Instead, I slowed down.I rested. I spent more time with my family. I got clearer on what mattered.And then I realised something I hadn’t expected: Ambition doesn’t disappear when you leave your job title behind. Mine was still there. But I was reshaping what it looked like. And as it turns out, the work I’m doing now feels more purposeful than anything else I’ve done in my career (can’t wait to share more on that soon!)… I think that’s the gift hidden inside so many midlife plot twists, and I suspect I’m not the only one! Maybe it was redundancy, divorce, burnout, or realising the aspirations you had when you were younger no longer fit who you are now. I wish I knew that earlier.So if you’re feeling like that, maybe this is your reminder that starting over doesn’t mean starting from scratch. You get to take everything you’ve learned with you. And that’s pretty damn special. Xx by @brookecampbellbayes

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a month ago

Pre-teen girls….with more Mecca products than I own, a new stanley tumbler every month and a room that smells so sweet it’s a hazard. Who is with me?! by @brookecampbellbayes

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a month ago

Words have been gathering quietly here in this little space.I can’t say much yet, but I can’t wait to share with you very soon! ❤️💕 by @brookecampbellbayes

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a month ago

The most magical weekend celebrating our girl @liazoe’s 40th birthday ✨ Lia is more than a friend, she’s like family to my little fam and I, and we’re so lucky to have her. The most special memories made this weekend 🤠 🌵 by @brookecampbellbayes

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3 months ago

Okay, let’s talk H A I R! A lot of you lovely folk have asked about the experience of losing my hair; some who have been there, and others who are headed that way. Losing your hair is such a weird thing to experience. At first, it felt liberating and powerful to take the razor to the little hair I had left. But then, once you’re in the throws of sickness, it feels different. All of a sudden, you feel sick and you look sick. And yet, it still feels silly to worry about something so trivial when you have much bigger things going on. I lost my hair, lashes and brows. And as much as I hoped it wouldn’t affect me, the truth is it did. Hair makes up a big part of our identity. I was lucky that so many beautiful people reached out to give me tips and advice on wigs - it turns out more people than I would have thought are wearing wigs/toppers for different reasons (alopecia, thinning hair). I went to loads of places and tried on my body weight in wigs! And now, I want to pay it forward and let anyone who is in the market for a wig know the secret - the beautiful team at @goldylosthair are the ones you need to visit. They were next level; their support, their time, nothing was too much trouble. Their human hair wigs are so realistic I’m pretty sure no one can tell I’m actually wearing a wig! They are seriously real life angels.And anything that can make a time like this a little easier and make you feel a little better is a big win.❤️ by @brookecampbellbayes

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4 months ago

If you’ve ever wondered what an MRI is like (which is wild to me, because haven’t we all had 367 million of them?!) Anyway - it sounds exactly like THIS song! - Times the volume by 100 and listen to it on repeat for 60 mins and there you have it! #mriday by @brookecampbellbayes

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4 months ago