Brave Little Firefighter, BFFs, and a Dragon, Heart Warrior Journey

Chapter 9

Hot shot was now on the in CSDU recovering from a sudden cardiac arrest. Hot shot was busy playing with a few of his toys today. Hot shot soon saw a nurse come in with some medicine. "Okay Hot shot time for some medicine," the nurse named Greg said.

"Okay," Hot shot said. Greg gave Hot shot his medicine. Hot shot took the medicine without a fight.

"Good job Hot shot," Greg said. "You did very well," he said.

"Thanks," Hot shot said.

Hot shot was still kind of worried about having to be in the hospital for a while. He was scared and nervous about what had happened. He was wondering if it might happen again. Hot shot saw his mother was with him. "Mummy I am scared what happened that brought me to stay here so long might happen again, will it happen again?" Hot shot asked.

"There is a chance it might happen again yes, it is because you have heart defects and you now have an arrhythmia." Quickshadow said. "If it does happen your father and I prepared, we know CPR and we are planning on getting an AED for the house," she said. "That way we can be prepared if it does happen," she said. "We also will call 911 when it does happen so you can be brought here," she said.

"Okay," Hot shot said. "I thought what happened and waking up and being taken in an ambulance was scary," he said.

"I completely understand that," Quickshadow said. "But the people in the ambulance are there to help you," she said.

"Oh okay," Hot shot said. Hot shot felt better after talking to his mother. Hot shot still had things to do in the hospital. The doctors and nurses wanted to see how his heart was doing so they did electrocardiograms and echocardiograms to help look at what his heart was doing. Hot shot was also getting blood tests done to look at things.

Hot shot was glad he had his team on his side. Hot shot was wondering when his next surgery was going to be, because he was a little bit nervous about it. But he was ready to be very brave for it.

Hot shot had been in the hospital for a few weeks. Hot shot had to find ways to pass the time while here in the hospital. Hot shot knew if he was going to have times when he was in the hospital for a while, he was going to have to find ways to entertaining himself. Hot shot found ways by playing games, watching videos, watching movies and TV, listening to music, playing with his toys, and drawing or coloring. Hot shot found these can help the time go by faster.

Hot shot was hoping his second surgery was going to go well when it happened.

Sometimes Hot shot felt sad and lonely while in the hospital. Hot shot didn't like that he had heart problems and didn't like that it made it harder for him to do certain things. A lot of things made him feel weak and tired. Hot shot was wondering if he could ever do things without feeling that way. Because Hot shot wanted to be active and run, jump, climb and play without getting out of breath so quickly. Hot shot felt that was unfair.

Hot shot was wishing it to go away but he couldn't make it go away now matter how hard he tried. Today Hot shot was going to get a special surprise. Hot shot was at physical therapy saw Roxy his child life specialist come in with another child life specialist. This child life specialist brought a dog.  "Hot shot this is Brie," the second child life specialist said.

"Hi Brie," Hot shot said. Hot shot pet her and was happy. "She is so soft," he said.

"Yes she is," the second child life specialist said.

"Does she like to play with balls and other things?" Hot shot asked.

"Most dogs do," the second child life specialist said.

Hot shot loved to pet Brie. Hot shot even got to play with her and had a lot of fun. That made Hot shot very happy. 

Hot shot also was able to play music sometimes with the child life specialists. Hot shot had a lot of fun making the music, singing and playing the instruments. It helped him get his mind of being in the hospital at the moment. Hot shot was happy to have people there to help him.

Hot shot also got to make special crafts with the child life specialists too. Hot shot was able to let his feelings out when he did art therapy. It helped him feel so much better.

Hot shot still had to go to therapy. Hot shot was getting strong as the days passed. Hot shot was also getting the hang of things again with the help of all the therapists. Hot shot was able to grab things and do things with his hands again without them shaking.

Hot shot was even starting to walk longer distances and walk much better too. Hot shot was also able to stand for longer periods of time too. Hot shot was regaining his strength and feeling more like himself again.

Before they knew it was May and Hot shot was soon going to have his second open heart surgery. Hot shot was ready for it too. On the night before surgery, Hot shot didn't eat anything after dinner.

The next morning Hot shot couldn't have any breakfast and he was hungry and thirsty. But he knew from his previous surgery he couldn't eat or drink before his surgery or he might get sick. So Hot shot was ready for it.

Hot shot was being checked over by the nurses to make sure he was ready for his surgery. Hot shot remember the day before his surgery. It was just like the day before for the first one. Hot shot had to get an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram. Hot shot also had to get a blood test too. Hot shot also had to get his height and weight checked too. Hot shot also remembers having his temperature taken and having his blood pressure taken too. Hot shot was all ready to go now.

Hot shot was holding on to Roxy the rhino as he was heading into surgery. Hot shot was ready to be brave. Then Hot shot was in the OR. Then Hot shot was moved to the OR bed. Roxy the rhino was moved to another part of the bed. Hot shot was given his medicine air to breathe in. This time Hot shot chose cupcake. It smelled very yummy and soon Hot shot fell asleep. Hot shot was dreaming he was playing with the puppy he got from Make a wish and they were the best of friends and having a lot of fun.

Then soon Hot shot started wake up and opened his eyes. Hot shot saw his was in CICU and was covered with tubes and wires again. Hot shot remembered these were to help him after surgery. So they were not as scary as they were the first time. Then he saw his mother and father. Hot shot felt very sick, tired and sore but that was normal.

"The surgery went well Hot shot," Quickshadow said. "Dr. McKenzie said you did great," she said.

"Yes son you did very well, we are so proud of you," Heatwave said. "You are so brave," he said. "Here I got I got you this, it is a plush Zebra I thought you might like it," he said.

Hot shot did like it a lot he was mainly happy now the surgery was over and now he could just rest now. Hot shot was checked on by Dr. Runkel, Dr. Tam and Dr. Meyer from time to time. Hot shot was also checked on by the nurses on a regular basis. They were just making sure that he was doing okay.

Hot shot was going to have to wait a bit before moving back to the CSDU again. He knew it was to make sure he was strong enough before that. Hot shot was ready for it and ready for whatever happens with his special heart.