The 52-year-old, also a fine servant to Ipswich Town during his career, will undergo an operation at Broadgreen hospital in Liverpool upon his return to the country.
"He was rushed to hospital and they were going to operate, but dad decided he would rather come home and have the operation done here with his family around him," said Johnson' daughter, Lucy.
"I spoke to him and he said he was feeling a lot better, but it had given him a scare.
"It was awful when we found out he had been taken ill, and it was made so much worse with him being so far away. We couldn't see for ourselves that he was OK."