"Dr. Teton," I say into the phone. It was a call from the hospital, I just didn't know who from.
"Wam, it's Yank. Halian had a tonic clonic seizure. I had to sedate him to stop it, but he hasn't regained consciousness. I thought you'd want to know."
"Definitely, yes. Is The Neurologist on-call coming in to check him out?"
"I'm afraid not. He said to rest his brain tonight and he will check him in the morning," Yank said quietly.
It now made perfect sense why he called me. Yank wanted a neurologist to check him out and The on-call wasn't coming in. I looked at Kynlee, "hold on a second Yank..." I pushed 'mute' on the phone and turned to Lee, "will you be upset if I have to run to the hospital?"
Her eyes get big and she looks surprised at my question. "No Wam, of course not. I'll either stay here or go with you."
I press 'mute' again to turn it off and put the phone back to my ear, "yeah Yank, I'll be there within thirty minutes okay?" I listened briefly as Yank spoke and then answered, "I'll let you call Wanda. Then she can contact Mom and Mona too. That way I'll get there quicker. Thanks man!"
I hung up and stood from the couch. Turning toward Lee I explained, "I just need to clean up a bit. It's Halian, so you are welcome to come with me if you'd like. I'll be back shortly."
I left the room and went to my master bath to get ready and make myself more presentable. Within ten minutes, we were heading out the door to the hospital. I'm not sure which is worse, knowing Kedron's future looks grim or thinking Halian is doing better and then having all these unexpected issues along the way. I'd do damn near anything to help either of them.
As I drove, I ran my hand through my freshly combed hair and then let it rest on the center console with a sigh. Lee reached her hand over and took mine with a gentle squeeze. It felt good having someone support me as I struggled to keep my emotions in check and tried to stay in 'doctor mode'.
"How old did you say Hal was?" Lee asked.
"He's ten. His parents are Wanda, my sister, and Alec. We did brain mapping surgery so we could know where the seizures were originating. Unfortunately we had to take him off the lorazepam and allow the seizures to return to get our readings. There is always risks involved, but we felt it was necessary for his long term outcomes to know what we are dealing with. Tonight he had a major seizure and they had to sedate him to stop it." I took a deep breath before I finished, "I just pray we got the information we needed from this seizure. Sometimes if we can find the origin, we can sever or remove the cause and stop the seizures. With Hal being so young and no seizures prior to the accident, I was hopeful."
I could see Lee looking at me in my peripheral vision, before she said, "Wam, I'm sure if it's possible, you'll do it. You are an excellent neurosurgeon, and Hal is lucky to have you on his side."
I tried to give her a smile, but it likely came out more as a grimace, as I said in a gruff voice, "thanks Lee." I held onto her hand like a lifeline until we got out of the SUV to enter the hospital.
The elevator ride to the ICU where Hal remains since the brain mapping surgery, felt like it took forever. I was just so worried about my nephew.
As I neared the Nurse's station, Yank came around the end to meet me with a handshake. "Thank you Wam for coming. I know this case is personal to you, that's why I called when The on-call didn't feel the need to come in tonight. Do you want to examine him first or get my updates?" Dr. Yankton asked.
"I can do an exam if you have other stuff to do. Meet me in his room when you are finished with your other patients?" I offered. Yank nodded in response and went back to the computer he had been working on. I headed into Hal's room with Lee following behind me. "Hal, it's Uncle Wam. This is my friend Lee. She was visiting me tonight, so I brought her with to meet you. I'm going to do a neurological exam on you Hal, in case you are wondering why I'm touching you."
I proceeded to do a through exam while Lee sat in a chair off to the side. After my exam, I moved over to the kiosk the nurse was using to see what meds they've put Hal on and see the details of the internal EEG. It was good and bad news. I spoke with the nurse, "the seizures appear to be originating in the occipital lobe. The seizures we saw before were petite mal, but the one today appeared to be a clonic tonic seizure. I'm hopeful the seizure today occurred because we stopped the medicine abruptly to cause a seizure. Therefore the likelihood of a repeat if he remains medicated is minimal. Let's start him on a titration of Keppra. We will start low and increase slowly. Also, keep him on the lorazepam until we get the Keppra to a therapeutic level. Daily venipunctures until we are there. I'll go enter the orders in the computer." I turned to leave the room, but turned back to the nurse and said, "thank you Nurse Lola for helping with Hal today. He is like a son to me."
"It was my pleasure Dr. Teton," she responded with a nod and a smile.
I walked out to the Nurse's station and found a computer to enter my examination findings and orders. Dr. Yankton came by shortly and I filled him in on the game plan. Yank put his hand on my shoulder, "thank you Wam for coming. I don't want the on-call to think I'm undermining his authority, but I know Halian means the world to you. If I didn't call and something happened, I'd never forgive myself."
I turned and studied The young hospitalist for a
minute before I said, "Yank, you need to start trusting your instincts. You were right to call me both times you did. This is my family, and if the other doctors are too busy with other patients or their own families, I will be here. Thank you for taking good care of Hal. It means a lot to me."
Yank nodded but looked slightly sheepish with the praise I gave him. "For the record Yank, I wouldn't be opposed to you calling my sister Mona."
"Excuse me sir?" Yank replied.
"Oh come on Yank. I saw she was flirting with you and gave you her number. You are a good guy and she is a wonderful woman. If you are interested, I'm giving you the green light to call her and ask her out," I explained to him as he stared at me with a 'deer caught in the headlight' look. When he didn't respond, I asked, "you do like women right? You aren't gay?"
"I'm heterosexual, yes. Can we please change the subject?" Yank said with a face as red as a tomato.
"Sorry, not trying to embarrass you. I just wanted to give you my blessing." I cleared my throat before asking, "anything else you need before I head home?"
"No, I think that's it for the night. I'll still be here when you come back in the morning. Thanks again Wam," Yank said and headed off down the hall.
I shook my head and laughed to myself. Yank had to be in his mid to late twenties, and he still gets embarrassed about women. Amazing.
I finished up my charting and headed back into Hal's room to collect Lee. As I neared the door, I heard her voice speaking softly in a rhythmic fashion. As I looked in the doorway, I saw she had grabbed a book from the shelf above the sink and was reading to Hal. Bless her heart, Lee was such a wonderful woman. All the things like this she does and doesn't seem to realize they are special, only makes me more fond of her.
She must have sensed me watching her, because she looked up, "are we ready to go Wam? I was just reading this to Hal. This series, 'Trapped In A Video Game', by Dustin Brady, was just sitting there on the shelf. We only got through a couple chapters though."
"I guess I'm ready if you are." I walked over to Halian's bed and kissed his cheek before saying, "uncle loves you buddy. I'll see you in the morning before I head into surgery."
Lee placed the book back on the shelf and came to the bedside as well. She squeezed Hal's hand lightly and said, "it was a pleasure to meet you Hal. Your uncle has told me a lot about you. Hopefully I will see you again some day."
I placed my hand on Lee's low back and stepped back to allow her to precede me through the doorway and down the hall. We walked quietly, side by side until we reached the SUV. "Thank you Lee."
When I didn't say anymore, Lee finally asked, "what are you thanking me for Wam?"
"I'm thanking you for accompanying me," I grabbed her hand in mine on the center console, "for supporting me as I struggle through this with my family, and thank you for reading to Hal. That was so sweet of you." I smiled at her and she smiled in return but shrugged. I released her hand and drove us back to my house for the night.