Callie fell asleep rather quickly. After a few minutes the other kids arrived from their snack run. And saw that Callie had fallen asleep.
"Oh man, she's sleeping again? I wanted to spend more time with her." Jude looked so sad.
"We know bub, but your sister needs her rest so she can come home sooner. The sooner she gets better the sooner she gets home." Stef said to her son.
As Stef and Lena were trying to deal with the kids, Callie's doctor came into the room to check on her patient. "Well hello Adams-Fosters how are you?" She was responded with various hi's and hellos or good. "So I see you all came to see your sister. Don't worry, she's fine. Just tired because from the medicine we are giving her. And she'll be home in a few days." Then she looked at the moms. "I want to take Callie for some tests. One of you guys can come with her in case she wakes up if you want."
"Yeah um… I'll go." Lena said.
"What kind of tests?" Jude asked
"Well since she's had migraines, and I want to check and make sure it's just migraines and not something else. Then we are going to take some blood and do a full physical on her. All the works." Dr. C. said to the boy.
"But why? I thought she was here because of the allergy thing…" Jesus asked.
"Well I want to make sure that when she goes home, she will be as healthy as possible. I don't want her to come back in a few days feeling sick again." she told him.
The kids just nodded their heads in understanding.
"So Lena, since you're coming with us, let's go…" The doctor took Callie's hospital bed and un did the breaks then pushed it out of the room and into the hallway.
Lena kissed her wife and said goodbye to her kids in case they took to long and Stef took them home.
The doctor got a nurse and between both of them they wheeled Callies bed up to the MRI machine. They wanted to do a brain scan and look for evidence of migraines and to make sure that there was nothing to worry about.
"So where are we going?" Lena asked Leslie.
"To the MRI machine. I want a scan of Callie's brain. I want to eliminate anything that might have been causing her headaches. And check to see if the markers for a person with migraines are there." Leslie said matter of factly.
"Wait, I thought you couldn't diagnose migraines with images?" Lena remembered this from when Stef had gotten scans to make sure she didn't have anything in her brain when she got migraines.
"You typically can't. But now we have certain characteristics that all migraines sufferers share in the brain scan, so we look for that."they made it to the elevator and Leslie pushed the button for the 4th floor where the MRI room was.
"Oh wow. That's great." Lena exclaimed. "So we talked to Callie."
This got Leslie's attention. "Oh and what did she say?"
"Well she said she's allergic to monkey flowers and that she apparently can't hear well from her right ear."Lena said cautiously.
"What why? Usually hearing loss presents in both ears." Leslie sounded angry.
"She said it was from an ear infection that went without being treated for too long." Lena didn't know if she should tell her all the details, she looked upset.
"Oh dear. Why didn't they take her to the doctor? When was this?" Leslie asked.
"She said when she was 13. It's how she found out she was allergic to penicillin. She stopped taking it and the ear infection damaged her hearing." Lena was running her fingers through Callie's hair. Anything to convince herself her daughter was ok.
"That must have been a severe middle ear infection to cause hearing loss." Leslie said lost in thought. "She must have spent a lot of time with the ear infection, and in pain, before going to the hospital, then recovering. How bad is her hearing?"
"She just said that it sounds a little muffled. She never got checked out." Lena said quietly.
"Poor girl. The system is just so broken." Leslie sighed.
Lena smiled at her friend. "We are going to get her to an audiologist. Any recommendations?"
"We have an excellent Pediatric E.N.T. doctor here in the hospital and an audiologist." Leslie said when they exited the elevator. "I can get you a referral and have him check her out if he thinks she needs a hearing test he will send her to the audiologist to do it and they will let you know if she needs hearing aids or not."
"That would be great. Maybe we can get that taken care of before she gets discharged" Lena said hopefully. She didn't want to have to keep bringing Callie to the doctors. It would just traumatize her more.
"Yes I can certainly get that done for you. I'll put in the order as soon as we're done here." Leslie said smiling. She understood where Lena was coming from. She had read Callie and Jude's files and knew what they had been through.
"Thank you." Lena said smiling.
They arrived at imaging and Callie was just starting to stir. "Mama?"
At the sound of her daughter's voice calling her she looked at the bed and saw that Callie was opening her eyes. "Hey bug. How do you feel?" Lena kept running her fingers through Callie's hair.
"Tired… where are we?" Callie slurred sleepily.
"We're in imaging, they are going to run some tests. That way we can get you home faster." Leslie answered her patient.
"Uhum… Ok…" Callie looked so tired.
"Go ahead and close your eyes bug. I'll be right here." Lena said. She looked to worn down and pale. She couldn't wait until all this was over and they could take Callie back home and back on a normal routine.
"...Ok… Love you…" Callie said.
"Love you too slug a bug." She kissed Callie's forehead, Lena then turned to Leslie. "Does she have to be awake for this?"
"Not really but the machine makes a bit of noise. I don't know if it will wake her." Leslie was prepping a syringe with some kind of liquid. "I would rather she's awake first and then she can fall asleep if she can, than her wake up in the middle of the scan and move. It will mess up the images."
"Ok I'll wake her and see what she wants." Lena turned back to her daughter and gave her a kiss. She then got close to her ear. "Hey bug. Can you wake up for mama really quick?"
"Hmmm…" Callie mumbled.
"Cal, can you open Your eyes for me? Open your eyes for mama." Lena cood.
Callie opened her eyes and focused on Lena. "Hi mama." She smiled.
"Hi baby. The doctor is going to do a scan and she wants you awake when she starts. You can fall asleep after." Lena told her daughter.
"Why?" Callie asked confused.
"If you move during the scan it will mess up the image." Leslie explained. "You can sleep during. Can you stay wake for the beginning?" Leslie asked while injecting the liquid into Callie's IV.
"Mhm…" Callie was already dozing off.
"Honey, open your eyes." Lena said loudly.
"I'm awake mama… just resting my eyes." Callie said a little more clearly.
Ok. Callie got up and passed over to the machine. She laid down, closed her eyes and tried to relax. She still felt tired. Like she could sleep for days. After a few minutes. She felt the machine move. When she opened her eyes, the bed part was being raised.
"Well The machine is going to make noise so be still. Ok?" Leslie said.
"It's ok bug." Lena said.
Leslie then asked her. "Do you want to listen to music? Or we can just cover your ears. The noise is going to be loud."
"Can I talk during the scan?" Callie asked.
"Well we need you to be as still as possible. But if you need to say something you can. And I'm going to give you a button that if at any point you want out, you can press it and it will be over." Dr. C. reassured her.
Callie thought it over. "Will I be here alone?"
"Your mama can stay in here. There is a mirror here, see it. Dr. C. touched directly above Callie's eyes and in fact there was a mirror." The doctor explained.
She decided she wanted music and that Lena didn't have to stay. After finishing the prep, she was slid into the machine. And then she heard the noise. It almost sounded like construction noise. But with the music it wasn't too bad. Then she heard her mama and Dr. C. talking to her through the earphones.
"Ok Callie, try not to move. I need you as still as possible." The doctor said.
"Ok." Callie said.
The machine started to move and make loud sounds. Callie closed her eyes and focused on the music, trying not moving. "Your doing great bug. You're almost done." she heard her moma say through the headphones.
Callie focused on the music and eventually dozed off a little. She heard the doctor say she was done. "Good job Callie, you did great."
"I fell asleep." Was what Callie responded.
"That's fine Callie I got really clear images." Dr. C. said.
They walked up to her in the machine and got her out. She was still groggy. She looked at her doctor and asked. "Why am I so tired and sleepy? I feel like all I've done since I got here is sleep."
"That's the medication we have you on." Dr. C. said.
"Am I going to have to take this all the time?" Callie asked.
"No Callie. This is just until the antibiotic is completely out of your system and you are 100% reaction free." The doctor said.
"Am I going to have to take this stuff every time I have a reaction to something?" Callie asked.
The doctor looked at Lena and then at Callie. "Well since this is the combination of meds that seems to work for you, I would say probably. We can probably tweak the dosages to make you more comfortable."
Callie looked at her mama silently asking for help.
"Sweetheart, we will do anything to make sure your healthy and well taken care of." Lena stated.
Callie nodded and sighed. She knew that from now on nothing will be the same. And that every family activity would be more planned out and thought of before going. Her siblings were not going to like this. And just thinking she was going to have to carry medicine with her everywhere she went…
"Ok Cal let get you back to your room so you can rest." The doctor said.
"Mama?" Callie said softly.
"Yeah Bug?" Lena asked.
"Um…" Callie said softly.
"What's up Cal?" Lena wanted to know what was going through her daughter's head.
"I… um… I'm kinda hungry." Callie said shyly.
Lena looked at Leslie and they both smiled. "And what would you like to eat?"
"Ummm…. A… a sandwich? From that place mom likes to go?" Callie said quietly. She didn't like to ask for stuff, but she was hungry and craving a sub.
"Oh, you mean Louie's?" Lena asked smiling.
"Yeah. I like that place. They have really good subs." Callie said smiling shyly.
"Sure honey I'll text mom so she can go get you one. Do you want your usual?" Lena said as she took out her phone and started to text her wife.
"Yeah." Callie said with a smile.
"Did you just get the craving now? I know you haven't been eating a lot lately." Lena stated
At this Callie looked at the floor. She had been craving this for over a week now but hadn't said anything. Every week they ate out once. And they all took turns picking the restaurant. She was waiting for her turn so she could pick this sub place. No not really.
"No? Then since when?" Lena kept proding.
"Since a little over a week." Callie was looking at her hands.
"What? Why?" Lena asked.
"I was waiting for my turn to pick the restaurant. It's suppose to be next week." Callie stated matter of factly.
"Oh Cal. That's for actual restaurants. Not a sub place. If you wanted a sub mom or I would have gotten you one. And any of your siblings if they wanted one too." Lena explained.
"I just wanted it to be fair." Callie said.
"Cal all the kids have asked for something on every others week. Just yesterday, Jude wanted a noodle bowl from that Korean place we go to. So we got some." Lena said.
"Really? Where was I?" Callie asked.
"Sleeping. We tried waking you but you were out. And since it's a starter, not a real lot of food, I still made dinner and everyone ate. You saw that. You were there." Lena said while looking at her daughter. Callie nodded.
"Hey Cal, Dr. C. is going to get you to see a E.N.T. and they will decide about seeing a audiologist. That way we can see if you need a hearing aid or not." Lena said cautiously trying to gauge Callie's reaction.
Callie nodded. Then he got back on her hospital bed and they made there way back to her room. On the way, Callie kept thinking about having to go to the audiologist. She really didn't want to go. She already felt like the school freak. Add epipens and hearing aids? She was going to become a target. More than she already was. Being smart and a foster child was tough. She smiled a couple of grades when she started at Anchor Beach. Teachers were always trying to challenge her but in the schools she was in and without her foster parents authorization there was only so much she could do. She she arrived at the fosters. And took the entrance exam, she aced it. They skipped her two grades and she became a junior overnight. Now she was fifteen, and a senior in high school. She didn't want to think what would happen if she showed up with a hearing aid to school, and having to go to the nurses office every time she went out side? This was just great.
She already didn't tell her moms about what's been happening at school. All the name calling and the bigger kids trying to copy from her work. One kid was bold enough to actually steal her essay At least it was her last class and she had time to redo it. She knew she could tell her moms. They would take care of it, but that would just make her a bigger target. She might just have to now.
"Callie?" Lena said.
Callie was startled out of her inner ramblings by her mama's voice. "What?" She said shaking her head. "I'm sorry mama, what was that?"
"Your mom took your siblings to Louie's for subs. They called in the order for pick up." Lena told her daughter.
"Oh um ok." Callie said.
"Ok good. So where were you just now?" Lena asked.
"What do you mean?" Callie asked.
"Your mind. Where was it?" Lena asked again.
"Oh, um, no nowhere. Just worried about all these tests Dr. C. wants to run. Makes me feel like it's worse than it really is." Callie said.
Lena nodded. She was sceptical of her daughter's answer but if Callie didn't want to tell her she wouldn't force it.
As she was wheeled into her room, she heard her family coming through the hallway. As they connected Callie back up to all the machines, the rest of her family made themselves comfortable and started the process of eating their subs. As soon as she was situated Jude handed her her sub and smiled.
"We got your favorite! Turkey and roast beef with mayo, lettuce, pickles, spinach and oil. No vinegar, no tomatoes." Jude exclaimed.
"Thanks buddy! I'm starving!" She opened her sub and dug in. It was sooo good.
While the kids started eating, Lena, Stef and the doctor headed over to the hallway to talk.
"Hey so when will we know the results of her scans?" Stef asked the doctor anxiously.
"Well I won't have official results until tomorrow, but from what I could see, she has some of the markers for migraines." Leslie started to explain.
"Wait… markers for migraines? I thought you couldn't diagnose migraines with scans." Stef couldn't believe what she was hearing. She suffers from migraines and there has never been a test to confirm the diagnosis. It's usually a process of elimination.
"You couldn't. But in the past few years, we have identified certain markers in specific parts of the brain that all migraine sufferers have..." The doctor tried to explain. But Stef kept interrupting.
"So you mean to tell me that I can get a scan done and my migraine would show up?" Stef asked the doctor.
At this point Lena put her hand on her wife's shoulder. "Let's let her finish the explanation honey."
Stef nodded. And looked at the doctor. "I'm sorry. Please continue."
"Yes. that's exactly what I'm saying." The doctor said. "Specially if your having one or recently had one. With Callie I said some of the markers because she hasn't had a migraine in almost a year. Any way I'm going to put in the referal for the E.N.T. I'll talk to her myself and explain Callie's situation and then we can get her into a audiologist if she needs it."
"Why the E.N.T. first? She said she can't hear well from her right ear." Lena asked.
"Because we want to make sure nothing else is causing the muffled sound. It might be something we can fix and not have to resort to a hearing aid. Which by the way are very expensive."
"Yes I was doing some research and they can start at over $1,000 each." Lena stated.
"And if she doesn't need it, then that's even better. The E.N.T. and the audiologist will check her out and if after her exam and the hearing test they will determine if it's something that can be fixed or if she will in fact need a hearing aid. At that point all her options will be discussed." The doctor said.
"Thank you very much." Stef said. "When will the specialists be able to see her?"
"It will most likely be tomorrow. And if she needs hearing aids or any kind of treatment that will also be discussed tomorrow." Leslie said.
"That's great. We also have the other kids tests tomorrow." Boy were they going to be busy tomorrow. They were going to have to take all of this in one kid at a time. "Do we have an estimate on when Callie can go home? I know she's anxious to go. She hates hospitals."
The doctor looked at Callie's file on her tablet. "Well at the earliest, I would say Thursday." She still had her physical to do and for that she has to be reaction free. She would push that as far as she could so she could get the best and most accurate results."Since we are checking her hearing tomorrow, we would do the physical on Wednesday. So that means that she could possibly be discharged on Thursday."
"Thursday? That's not so bad. But Callie is not going to be happy. That's almost all week. And she wont go to school until at least Monday…" Stef said.
"That's the best I can do for right now. And she has to cooperate and be forthcoming. If she doesn't feel good she needs to say so. It's the only way. Most of her symptoms make her feel funny before they even show up on our test and monitors." The doctor said.
"Yeah and we have to be able to trust her. Only she will know how she feels and we are going to have to rely on her to make sure she's ok." Lena said thoughtfully.
"So Thursday the earliest. And it's not depending on how she feels but on what she tells us…" Stef said. If they were going to tell her Thursday they could let her think that it was because she was feeling better. It wasn't going to be dependent on that, but on whether she would tell them when she wasn't feeling good.
"Yeah that sounds about right…" Leslie thought this was a great idea. It would obligate her to tell them how she really felt.
"Ok well tell her. Thank you for everything." Lena hugged Leslie. Sometimes it payed off having a friend as your kids doctor.
"It's no problem. Whatever you guys need just give me a call. Were like family." The doctor said. And with that, the doctor left to go to her rounds.
Lena and Stef walked to callie's door and looked through the window. They saw their kids laughing and goofing off. They had finished eating and were just talking and enjoying eachothers company. They kept watch until again they saw Callie start to cough. That's when they decided to intervene.
"Ok guys let's tone it down a little, this is a hospital not the beach…" Stef said while Lena made her way to Callie and handed her a cup with water.
"Thanks mama." Callie said
"Sure honey. Are you ok?" Lena asked her daughter.
"Yeah just laughed to much I guess." Callie said a little out of breath.
"Well be carefull." Lena said looking at Callie's Ox-sat levels. The number read 91 and she didn't like that. "Honey you have to remember that your lungs are not very cooperative right now. You've had 2 anaphylactic shocks in the past few days and that's a lot of stress on your body."
"Ok I'll take it easy I promise." Callie promised.
"Good. Now we have something to talk about with all of you." Stef said.
"As you all know we had talked to you guys about getting the allergy test done." Lena rolled with the conversation.
"Yeah we remember why?" Jesus said.
"Well it's getting done tomorrow. You guys are leaving school early tomorrow and get all these tests done tomorrow. Jude your getting a physical also and Callie you are getting your hearing assed tomorrow as well." Lena explained.
"What? My hearing? But I thought it was ok. I don't want to get that test done." Callie complained. She did not want to do this. She was different enough as it was.
"Callie we need to figure out what is going on with your hearing. It might be something simple that won't require a hearing aid. But we won't know unless we have it checked out."
"Wait there's something wrong with Callie's hearing?" Jude asked.
"How can that be? She plays guitar just fine and she even plays songs by ear." Brandon added.
"Nobody had even noticed until I told you. Like I said, everyone just thinks I'm concentrating on something. I'm very careful not to miss important stuff." Callie defended
Lena looked at the kids. "We are not sure what is wrong with Callie's hearing yet. She told us that with the ear infection she had a few years ago, that her hearing has been muffled." Then she looked at Callie. "And like I told you, your teachers had already approached me about it. Yes they thought that your were just really into your work, but that means that you have not been as careful as you think in paying attention."
"Please moms," Callie said looking at both her moms. "I don't want to do this."