Little All-Star and All-Star BFFs Great Heart Warriors

Chapter 2

Hot shot was going to soon have open heart surgery to repair a heart defect that was diagnosed late. Hot shot was very nervous and scared. But he was going to be brave. He knew the surgery was to help him feel better and get stronger. But the thought of needing surgery was very scary. Hot shot was very worried about what might happen. He was wondering if he might wake up during surgery. Or what if something else goes wrong? Hot shot was worried about what will happen when he wakes up. Hot shot was worried about many things. "I am kind of scared about having surgery," Hot shot said.

"That is normal," Quickshadow said. "It is normal to feel scared before surgery," she told him. "If you have questions feel free to ask and they will be answered," she said.

"What will happen during the surgery?" Hot shot asked.

"The doctors will widen the pulmonary artery and remove any excess tissue that is blocking it. They will also put a patch over the hole between the ventricles. A special machine you be on call a cardiac pulmonary bypass will help the doctors operate on your heart without damaging it and the bypass will help you get blood and oxygen during surgery. Then once surgery is over they will close you up," Quickshadow told him. "Then when you wake up you will be in CICU with a lot of tubes wires and machines. You will also have a scar down your chest from the surgery, but it is nothing to worry about," she said.

"Oh," Hot shot said. "What if I wake up during surgery?" he asked.

"Don't worry the doctors know how much medicine to give you so you stay asleep during surgery," Quickshadow told him.

"Will it hurt after I wake up?" Hot shot asked.

"You might be sore and tired when you wake up in bed in pain for six weeks but that is normal," Quickshadow said.

"But I still don't understand what is wrong with my heart and what they will do sounds like a lot and scary," Hot shot said.

"I thought that might be the case," Quickshadow said. She pulled up a video on her tablet. "Here this is a video from Texas children's and it explains your condition," she said.

Hot shot looked at the video and saw what a normal heart looks like with a special race track. Then Hot shot saw what his heart looked like, the right side was bigger, there was a hole, a bridge and a block. Hot shot saw what it was doing and that is what was happening to him. "So that is what is wrong with my heart?' Hot shot asked.

"Yes," Quickshadow said. "Some kids like you get diagnosed with it later that normal," she told him.

"Oh," Hot shot said.

"Now here is the video of the what the doctors will do," Quickshadow said. She pulled up the video and played it for Hot shot.

Hot shot saw the heart track that had the same problem as his heart was on there. Hot shot saw what the doctors were going to do. Hot shot saw the were going to remove the bridge, they were going to remove the block, and close the hole. He saw that the cars that had oxygen were going out to the body and the cars were not mixing up. He could see the billboards lighting up. He found out that was going to make him stronger and feel better.

"So the doctors will do the same things for me?" Hot shot asked.

"Yes," Quickshadow said. "Your doctors want to mend your heart," she said. "They want to help you get better and get to a normal childhood," she said. "You will still need to see a cardiologist regularly after your surgery and you might need to take medicine to help with other problems with your heart after surgery and you might need more surgeries and need something called cardiac catheterization to help your heart," she said. "You might even need more help than that like needed a special device called a pacemaker or implanted cardiac defibrillator, or maybe sometime in the future a heart transplant," she said. "A lot of the things that might happen is because you were diagnosed late and that some of these problems happen due to being diagnosed late," she said.

"Oh," Hot shot said. "I am feeling so many things," he said. "I feel so sad that my heart is doing well," he said. "I feel like like why me?" he said.

"That is okay to feel that way, many feel that way when they recently found out they have a heart problem such as being just diagnosed or when their parents explain it to them when they are older if it has been sometime since they were diagnosed. " Quickshadow said.

"Okay," Hot shot said. "I also feel so angry, I feel like why didn't this problem get found out about sooner, like my health doesn't matter to them," he said.

"I can understand that," Quickshadow said. "Your health does matter to your primary pediatrician and the people at her office and the doctor who took care of me while I was pregnant with you," she said. "It is just sometimes people make mistakes and miss these things," she said. "So don't think they don't care about your well being," she told him.

"Okay," Hot shot said. "I feel so confused like how they missed it," he said.

"Sometimes when problems are mild to low moderate it can be easy to miss until someone is older as a child or an adult and the symptoms become more noticed able," Quickshadow explained to him. "So it is okay to feel confused about it," she said.

"I feel like this is a lot to take in and now I have heart problems and everything is changing so much and now I have possible a lot of surgeries a head besides this one and other things that might happen," Hot shot said. "I feel like it is all too much, is there a word for that?" he asked.

"Yes, you are feeling overwhelmed," Quickshadow said. "That is normal, and nothing to worry about," she said.

"I am also worried if I will ever be normal and be kid still," Hot shot said.

"That is a normal feeling too," Quickshadow said.

"I am also scared of what the future might hold," Hot shot said.

"That is normal too," Quickshadow said.

"I also feel so alone," Hot shot said. "I feel like I am the only one like this and facing it," he said.

"That is a normal feeling but you are not alone," Quickshadow said. "You are not alone with having a heart defect, in fact there are over 40,000 babies born each year with a heart defect. There are millions of kids around the world with heart defect too," she said. "So you are not alone in that boat," she said. "You are also not alone when facing the challenges you will face," she said. "Your care team, your friends, and the family all have your back and will be with you all the way," she said. "There is even support from the American Heart Association they help adults and kids with heart problems, ranging from acquired heart problems to ones they are born with." she said. "They help kids and adults learn about heart health and things that can happen to the heart from things that acquired or things one is born with and what doctors might do to help," she said. "They even have things to help kids get involved," she said. "They call people with heart problems a heart warrior," she said. "Some of them have a scar like you will have," she said. "Once you get the scar you will be part of the zipper club," she told him. "Which means you had open heart surgery," she said. "It is called a zipper scar because of where it is and how it looks," she said. "it is in the middle of your chest where the zipper would be and it looks like your chest has been zipped up." she told him. "Just remember no matter what happens you are not alone," she told him.

"Thanks mummy," Hot shot said. "I am going to be very brave," he said.

"Very good poppet," Quickshadow said. "I am proud of you and you are going to be brave and strong heart warrior," she said.

"I will be brave and strong because I want my heart to get better," Hot shot said. "I will do what I can to face my heart problems and be strong," he said. "I want to do what I want to do and I won't let my heart problems stop me," he said.

"Very good," Quickshadow said. "No matter what happens we are here for you Hot shot and we all love you very much poppet," she said.

"Thanks mummy," Hot shot said.

Hot shot was soon going to have surgery in a few days. But first things first, he was going to have preop check up in a couple of days to make sure everything is alright before his surgery. He was going to be brave went it happened. He was going to make sure to bring Roxy the rhino too. It was going help him feel extra brave. But he knew he could handle it with his family, friends and doctors by his side.