The next morning, Roy arrived early to help Johnny eat breakfast. As he wasn't sure if either oatmeal or eggs were familiar to John, Roy was hoping that he'd be at least willing to try them out.
I know he's eaten them before, but I've noticed he doesn't like orange juice anymore for some reason, Roy mused to himself. Probably should bring that up to Doctor Early. I should also remember to bring up the fact that Johnny's been having more trouble with loud, sudden noises. It's likely due to how fast he can process information, but better safe than sorry.
"Good morning, Johnny," Roy said as he entered.
Waking up, Johnny just blinked at him owlishly for a bit as he tried to figure things out.
White room, man…Uncle Roy…lotta noise…clinic, Johnny slowly figured out as he looked around.
Knowing exactly what was taking place, Roy waited patiently until Johnny yawned and said, "Uncle Roy. Hi."
"Hi," Roy smiled down at him. "You awake now?"
"Think so," John said, uncertainty clouding his voice.
"It's okay, I don't like mornings either," he assured him. "But today is a big day for you."
Nodding, Johnny told him, "New room."
"That's right. And, for breakfast today, you have some oatmeal and eggs with apple juice," Roy told him as Nurse Northstrom came in with a breakfast tray.
"Good morning, John, Roy," she nodded to both of them as she sat the tray on the table.
Gather vitals quickly, she said, "Good luck, Johnny."
Confused, Johnny just nodded as she wrote down the information and left. Sensing the puzzlement, Roy quickly distracted him by helping him sit up and moving the tray into place.
"Alright, here you go."
"Where is your?" Johnny asked as he tried to grasp a spoon.
Helping him get some eggs on the utensil, Roy explained, "Your aunt Joanne made breakfast at home. I ate there with her, Chris and Jenny."
Satisfied with the answer, Johnny concentrated on the food. Roy was just relieved that these two foods seemed to be ones that were familiar ones to him, although he was surprised at how quickly the eggs disappeared. Not much of the oatmeal was eaten, not that Johnny seemed to care much for it.
Oh, well. Dr. Early didn't say he couldn't just eat one type of food. And at least he's eating, Roy thought as he mentally shrugged.
As he asked Johnny if he wanted any more of the apple juice that was barely touched or wanted more eggs, Joanne and Dr. Early came into the room.
"Hi, Johnny," Jo greeted as she entered the room, coming in to give him a kiss on the forehead. "Looks like you had breakfast. All done?"
"Yes, Aunt Jo," Johnny told her with a crooked grin. "I got eggs!"
"Really? You like those, huh?" she asked.
"Yes. Good treat," Johnny giggled. "Like that."
Smiling herself, Jo bent down and whispered loud enough for others to hear, "Well, where we live, we are very lucky. Eggs are easy to find. We have them a lot."
"Real?" John looked towards Roy. "You eat eggs lot Uncle Roy?"
"Yep," he confirmed. "I had them this morning too."
"Wow!" came the pronouncement.
"Well, young man," Dr. Early cut in. "If you are done, do you mind if I listen to your heart and lungs?"
Naturally curious, John asked how. Explaining, Dr. Early inserted the ear pieces into his ears and placed the stethoscope on his heart.
"Hear that?" he asked and continued at the nod. "That is your heart."
Seeing him light up, Joe smiled and took back his instrument.
"Now it's my turn. If everything sounds good, we can start unhooking you from some things and get you to a quieter place," Dr. Early said as he began a quick check.
Seeing that everything was doing well, he buzzed the nurse in.
"Alright, first thing is going to be the worst," Dr. Early warned him. "I'm going to pull the tube out of your nose. You might feel funny, but it will be over fast."
Seeing the fear on John's face, Roy gripped his hand and told him, "Look at me Johnny, don't look at the doctor. It will be over before you can think."
Describing some of the fires and rescues he had been on, Johnny began forgetting about what was about to take place and Joe was able to get everything ready without him being aware. Deciding it would be best to just say he was going to place his hand by his nose and then pull the tube without warning, Dr. Early did just that. Although shocked at the sensation of feeling as though something was snaking its way through his body and then tugging his nose, once the whole procedure was over, Johnny just coughed and sank into Roy's arm.
"There, all over," Roy assured him as he rubbed his back. "That is the worst thing that'll happen today."
"Feel funny," Johnny said, wiping his nose and struggling to sit up.
"What do you mean by feel funny?" Dr. Early asked as the nurse reached for the basin just in case.
"Like snake up body, out nose," Johnny said.
"Oh! That's how it felt, huh sweetie?" Joanne asked.
"Yeah," John said, making a face.
All the people in the room, except the patient, struggled not to laugh at the expression.
"I'm sorry about that Johnny. I promise, this next thing may feel funny, but just because it's sticky," Dr. Early told him. "I'm going to take off the wires and pads that have been telling us how your heart has been doing. Ready?"
"I guess," Johnny finally said, drawing out the last word.
Smiling, Joe pulled back the gown just enough to start disconnecting the leads. Soon enough, that task was over.
"Now, we are just going to roll you on this bed to a new room a couple floors up," Dr. Early warned Johnny as he started making sure all the bags and IV's were hooked onto the bed for transport. "There are a couple of people outside this room who will help so we don't hit anything with you."
"Uncle Roy, Aunt Jo come?" Johnny asked with fear lacing his voice.
"We'll be right next to you as we head upstairs," Joanne promised. "I'll be here for most of today if you don't mind and Uncle Roy will stay to help you with supper."
"Okay," Johnny said.
Joe nodded to the nurse that she could leave and send in the two orderlies. Soon, Johnny was in his new room on the Nuero Step-down Unit. Once there, Johnny was beginning to nod off, so the DeSoto's and Dr. Early went to the visitors lounge so Joe could explain the differences between the ICU and Neuro Step-down Unit.
"We call this the NSU for short. Things are run differently here than other floors and you will notice that both children and adults are on this floor. Some patients are here for just a short time, while others are here for a much longer time period. As such, the rooms are private and just a bit bigger than the ICU cubicles. That way, therapy can be accomplished in the patient's room when needed. As far as Johnny's case goes," Joe said. "Until he is able to get to the bathroom with assistance and is unhooked from the catheter, he will be getting therapy in his room. I'm not sure how long that will take, it will be up to his physical and occupational therapists to determine. I also would like to have him removed from the central line as well before he heads down to the rehab department since taking outside of the NSU would mean opening up the possibility for more infection.
"To get to that point, Johnny will have to start consuming more calories. He is doing well," Dr. Early assured them. "He is very much on track, but I am still uncomfortable not supplementing what he is eating during the day with tube feedings at night."
"Is there anything we can do to help him get to that point?" Joanne wondered. "I'm sure that we can bring in meals that John might enjoy if that will help."
"Well," Roy squirmed a bit. "I'm not sure if the same things Johnny liked before are the same. I noticed that he's refusing to eat some of the foods he had eaten before. Like this morning, I could tell he really didn't enjoy the oatmeal, yet he was trying to eat it anyway. Probably because we told him he needed to eat."
"It's possible that his tastes have changed," Joe acknowledged after a great deal of thought. "I would just recommend encouraging him to try different foods and letting Johnny know if he doesn't like a certain food, to let you know."
"Of course, some foods, I will require him to eat," Jo said a bit forcefully.
At their looks, she huffed out, "What? We are going to be responsible for John, so he is going to have to learn that he will need to eat his fruits and veggies, just as our kids do."
Laughing, Roy wrapped his arm around her, "True. I won't argue with that one."
"That would be good to enforce," Joe agreed. "Anyway, I'm all for you and whoever else would like to bring Johnny food to try. On this floor, there is a separate small kitchen area for the patients where both dry and cold foods can be stored. There is also a microwave that a patient's family donated a year or so ago so food can be warmed up. All a patient or their family needs to do is make sure their name is written on the food item. Then, whenever Johnny is hungry, he can ask them for food, even if it is in the middle of the night."
"Wow, nice service," Roy murmured.
"Well, right now, the goal is to get him to learn how to eat properly again. Whatever we can do here to make sure that starts happening as soon as possible as well as that his nutritional needs are met, the better things will be for Johnny," Dr. Early said. "Once John is eating more normal meals and no longer has the feeding tube to supplement the meals, you will have to meet with a nutritionist since it will be important in John's recovery to have healthy, well-rounded meals."
"That won't be a problem, doc," Roy smiled. "Joanne already does quite well with that."
"That's what I've heard, but this is something new the hospital is trying out and is requiring," Dr. Early admitted. "It'll be up to the families afterwards to keep it up, but Rampart does want at least one meeting since studies are showing proper nutrition possibly could shorten the recovery process. I'm honestly not sure how they will be able to prove that or if it's true, as everyone heals at their own pace, but you know how these things go."
"Do I ever," Roy muttered, remember the many times the L.A.F.D. experimented with a new policy that crashed and burned.
"Moving on," Joe said, getting back on track. "Normally visitors are allowed between 10:00 am and 8:00 pm, as long as it doesn't interfere with therapy or anything else. In this case though, your family and the person, or people, who are going to help you out is welcome to come by any time. The nurses here have already been informed about that and it is written down on John's chart. As far as the set-up for nurses go, like in the ICU, the nurses here are on twelve hour shifts and are assigned the same patients each time they are on. It's been found it is a lot easier for both the nurses and the patients if things are switched around and a routine is kept. Other nurses will help out if needed of course. The main difference in nurses here is that they have additional, specialized training in the neurology field, so they know what to look for with head injuries and how to deal with patients suffering from those injuries. It makes life a lot easier on everyone, the patients, doctors and families we have found.
"One thing to be aware of is when Johnny is better able to get around, there are a few rooms behind this waiting room. They are for family gatherings so you won't have to crowd into a small room. There are also games, toys, books along with chairs and tables in there. Usually, unless you ask a nurse to reserve a room for a time or a doctor has the room set aside, the rooms are available on a first come, first serve bases. I honestly don't know how quickly they fill up," Joe told them, seeing Roy and Joanne about to ask. "I do know that John will be spending his time here until he is able to go home with you as I don't want him to experience too many changes. I, as well as Karl, Jacob and Dr. Brackett feel that the fewer changes John experiences, the faster Johnny will learn to trust people and the faster he will begin to heal."
Nodding, Roy agreed, "Yeah, I could tell how hard it was on him just moving to this floor and being introduced to Nurse Mays. It's hard seeing him like this, when all the time I've known him, he has been like this, I don't know…powerful force who takes life head on."
"Somehow, we'll get him through," Jo gently reminded her husband. "And he is learning to trust us. Remember, just last night, he told us a bit about his mom and dad."
"Yeah, I don't think he ever told us that stuff before," Roy smiled.
"Can I ask what?" Joe curiously asked.
"Well, we're not too sure what he was talking about," Jo admitted.
"Something about his mom teaching him or trying to teach him and his dad the stomp opvnetv," she pronounced carefully. "We asked him what it meant and he couldn't explain what it meant, just kept repeating it for a bit, so we're not sure. And then something about his dad trying to teach his mom and him about checkers."
"We really should make sure to bring our board here for him soon," Roy mentioned. "Although, I can't remember the last time either of us played or where it ended up."
"Ahh, we can always get another one," Jo told him. "Maybe we should anyway. One that is just his if we can't find one in his apartment."
"That would be a great idea, it would help connect him to his past and probably make him feel more secure with you two," Dr. Early told them. "As far as the word you can't figure out, it could just be part of his native language that his mom taught him. Just give it some more time and don't worry if he can't remember the English words for it."
"But why would he remember his native language now?" Roy questioned. "As far as I was aware, he never could speak it."
"It is possible that he did remember it, but it was buried in his memory," Dr. Early concluded. "And as far as not speaking it or realizing he could speak it, if someone doesn't speak a language for years on end, it is very easy to forget that they know it, let alone remember how to speak it. Since it was likely that Johnny learned the language when he was very young, having the head injury awaken the childhood in him probably also awakened the language he knew besides English. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were other things that he remembers or begins to remember that he wasn't aware of as an adult."
"So, we just basically just need to go with the flow and try not to act surprised when things like this come up?" Jo summarized.
"More or less," Joe nodded. "You can ask questions, as that will hopefully show that you are interested in him, but be prepared to back off and realize that some things may be too upsetting for him. Right now, we don't know what will upset him or won't. It's a guessing game."
"However, it's better to show him we care about his culture than not," Roy thought out loud.
"Exactly. If you ignored it, he would shut down and that could lead John to shutting down in other areas as well," Dr. Early agreed. "It's a tricky balancing act unfortunately."
After a few minutes of silence, he asked, "Are there any questions that you have for me or anything I should know about?"
Once again looking towards one another in silent communication, Jo answered for both of them, "No, I don't think so. At least not today. I think we got things figured out as far as today goes. Have Dr. Druthers and Johnny have a one-on-one session with us there, keep getting him to eat solid foods when he is awake. Other than that, just let him rest."
"Yep, that's it," Joe smiled. "Feel free to ask him about his family some more if you'd like or read to him. We have some kids books around here somewhere, just ask the nurse if you need help. Also, if you have questions, just ask Nurse Mays and if she doesn't know, she'll have me called. I'll be back later to check on John and Jo, I'll be sure to schedule an appointment for tomorrow morning to have the ophthalmologist visit to make sure everything is fine with Johnny's eyes. I wouldn't worry too much yet at this time about the fact that he's told you his vision is blurry. It is very common with head injuries and hopefully should go away in time."
Standing up, Roy shook the doctor's hand, "Thanks for everything. I know how much time you've been putting into helping us and well, we appreciate it."
"As I've said before, it's no problem," Joe assured him as he gave Jo a small hug. "I'm just glad things are working out in your favor and that John has such a great support group. I know this isn't easy on any of you, so anything I or anyone else can do, well, just let us know."
"We will," Jo confirmed as she and Roy headed towards Johnny's new room while Dr. Early headed towards the elevator. "And let Dr. Brackett and Dixie know that we'll start preparing John for them coming up tomorrow."
"Will do," Dr. Early said, departing the floor, smiling at the two of them.
Those two are amazing. Despite everything going on, they are still making time for their kids and being there for them. They are also making sure to watch out for others who worry about Johnny. I know the other Station 51 crew has been helping out a lot with the nitty gritty details, but I have to admit, I feel blessed for being included in their group of friends.