Josie's Journey

Josie's Quirky Brain Tapeworms

It was eight weeks after Josie's transplant. Since that fateful day, she had to be monitored in the hospital to be sure her kidney wouldn't be rejected. So far, everything had been fine - she was healing well and her body had quickly adapted to the new kidney and recovered well.

However, as fate would have it, that wasn't the end of her body's troubles. During her stay, and only a few days after the transplant, Josie had been diagnosed with gastroparesis - a condition where her stomach had stopped working properly and couldn't digest or empty its contents normally. The doctors suspected she'd already had a mild to moderate form of the disorder, but that anorexia had turned it severe. By this point, she couldn't keep any food down, no matter how hard she tried. She'd been prescribed several medications to try, all of which she was allergic to or just didn't work. Their last resort was a feeding tube, passed through her nose, through her stomach, and into her jejunum.

Since her eating disorder had contributed to her kidney disease and now gastroparesis, she'd been referred to a psychiatric hospital called Saint Monte's Mental Health Facility. She barely had time to stop by her house and pack up the essentials. Josie and her mother had arrived there as soon as they could, which was at 7 PM (ugh, rush hour traffic...). They had to wait in the lobby, then wait in the intake. Then they gave Josie a paper booklet with a lot of questions, which took her over an hour to complete. Elaine, of course, had to fill out paperwork too. The paperwork had to be read over, Josie had a brief interview, and they had to review her case to decide whether to admit her and to what unit.

With all that waiting and paperwork and more waiting, she didn't arrive at her new room in the long-term psychiatric unit until 10:30 that night, when everyone else was already asleep.

Josie stared at her new room for a few minutes after she'd stepped through the door, grasping the bag she'd packed in a rush. Right by the door where she came in, there were two shelving units bolted to the wall. One unit was occupied already; Josie set down her sweatshirt on the empty unit, telling herself she'd unpack in the morning. There were two beds, one on each side of the room. Each bed had a small table beside it, and on the far wall was a desk. Beside the desk was an open doorway, covered with a blue striped plastic curtain.

Josie sat down on the empty bed. She set her bag on the floor and pulled out an empty notebook that she placed gently on her nightstand - her mother Elaine had given it to her to use as a journal. Before she could get comfortable, there was a knock on the door.

"Josie?" A woman in maroon scrubs appeared in the doorway. "I'm Nurse Jennifer, I work night shifts here. I came to help set up your overnight feeds." She came in with a plastic bag of the formula and an IV pole with a pump attached. The nurse helpfully showed Josie how to set up and disconnect her feeds - as if she didn't already know. Josie exhausted yet still polite, thanked her and settled into sleep.

— — —

Her first night passed too slowly. It took her too long to get comfortable on the flimsy and rubbery mattress with only a thin white blanket to cover her. Out the window, she could see the distant lights of cars rushing through a highway interchange. Eventually, her fatigue overcame her, and she fell into a restless sleep.

Around five or six in the morning, Josie was suddenly roused from her sleep by screaming and banging. She got up, wheeling the IV tube behind her, and crept softly to the door. She cracked it open, too curious for her own good.

"Alexander, calm down!" A tall and burly nurse tried to restrain the teenager - Alexander, she assumed - who was screaming and thrashing. "Calm down now, or we will sedate you!"

"Noooo!" he screamed, voice ragged and anguished. "I can't! I can't! They won't stop! It huuuuurts!"

Josie recognized Jennifer, her nurse from the night before, grabbing Alexander's arm and injecting something into it. His screaming subsided a little while later, and she watched the staff assist him in a small room.