chapter 2
The kids woke up the next day. They looked around the hospital rooms that each of them were in and remembered they were in the hospital and that they had cancer. They were sad and scared. Dr. Rhino check on each of them that morning and made sure everything was alright. They were told they were starting Chemotherapy today.
They were a bit nervous about this. Nurses came into each of their rooms and had and IV pole with a pump and had a bag of medicine all them were certain chemotherapy drugs. The nurses set everything up and told the kids they were being very brave. But the kids didn't feel very brave at the moment. They honestly felt very scared.
Then the nurses hooked the tubes of the Hickman lines to the tube's on the bags and started it up. Now they were getting the medicine. It didn't hurt at all. The kids were starting to feel brave.
Hot shot and his new friends were allowed to go to the playroom while getting their Chemo treatment. They headed to the playroom together. They saw many things there and many areas for different age groups. "Look there are so many things to do," Hannah said.
"Let's play a game," Hot shot suggested.
They grabbed a game meant for up to eight players. They were having a lot of fun. After a bit they were taken back to their rooms for awhile. They found out loosing their hair was different for everyone who goes through chemo.
Medix was in his room playing with Mister Flappy his plush bat and his chemo session was still going on. Ratchet came into the room. "Hi uncle Ratchet," Medix said.
"Hello Medix how is it going right now?" Ratchet asked.
"Getting my first chemo session right now," Medix explained to him.
"I can see that," Ratchet said seeing the medicine bag attached to a tube.
"The nurse put the tube of the IV into my Central line tube and I didn't feel a thing," Medix said.
"That's good, that is why doctors put central lines in patients who need lots of IV medicines or fluids, so they won't have to get so many shots, and that is why it is used for patients on Chemotherapy," Ratchet explained.
A bit later after the chemo session was finished the kids noticed they had upset stomachs. But the nurses gave them medicine to make them feel better. After a bit they felt better and felt like eating.
They had a couple more chemo sessions that week. Then the next week they got a break to rest. During that week they got scans for their Radio oncologists to know how to give them the right radiation treatment. Hot shot got a special cast like thing to keep his left leg still for the scan and was going to get to use it during treatment. It had marks drawn on it.
For Medix and Scorch since their tumors where either inside the face or brain they got to make a special mask. The masks looked just like their faces.
While Whirl, Wedge and Hannah just had to lay down and be still.
After another week had passed and receiving another Chemo treatment the kids saw their hair was starting to fall out. Each of them found lots of hair on their pillows and in the hair brushes. They even saw it fall out on it's own. The next day they found more hair. Each one of them had a different sensation when their hair was falling out.
For Medix he had a burning session when his hair was falling out and asked the nurse to shave the rest of his hair off to make it stop. The nurse shaved his head which was very easy because the hair was already very loose and falling out. Now Medix had no hair to speak of.
Whirl hair loss hurt so she had her head shaved too and it felt much better after that. Now Whirl was also hairless.
For Scorch it was tingling sensation and was okay with it but decided to shave the rest of it off instead of waiting for it. It was all finished.
The others got the rest of the hair shaved of too, mostly just to get it over with. They all got to choose their own headwear to cover their bald heads. They all chose different beanie hats and other chemo caps.
They liked wearing their hats. They all chose them on the first day in the hospital so the hats would have arrived after they lost their hair.
Medix and his friends had also recently lost their appetites. So the dietitians recommend feeding tubes for a short bit until they felt like eating something. They recommend ng tubes. The kids sat still and sipped at water to help. After an x-ray they confirmed the tube for each child was in the right place.
Then the tubes were connected to bags of nutrient rich liquid food. They even put the tub behind the ear that was next to the nostril with the tube. There was special stickers for them to put on the tubes so it would be easier for a kid to wear.
The feeding tubes were not so bad. They could still play and go to sleep while getting nourishment. Over the coming days each of the kids wanted something to eat. "It's a good sign, it means they don't need to tube, but they may need it again," the dietitian said.
The kids started to eat their food more willingly. They found it easier to eat now that appetite was start to come back.
Then after a few days they were going to get their first radiation treatments. It was important for them to stay very still. During the treatment they heard noises and smelled a strange smell. But it didn't hurt at all and it didn't take too long. So it wasn't so bad.
After a few more weeks in August they got to go back home. But they were too sick to go to school even though school had started. Their families had called ahead of time to let their teachers know why their kids wouldn't be in school for a while.
They got special video conferences from home to the school so they wouldn't fall behind in school.
They all knew there was still much to do to get better from cancer but they were willing to keep fighting to get better.
