chapter 5

Hot shot was in the hospital again to stay for a while and it was during Christmas time too. Hot shot was sad because there was a chance he would get to spend the holidays with his family. But he knew it must be hard on his family too. Because he saw how worried everyone he knew and loved that came to see him. They were worried about him, worried if he was going to be alright and stuff.

Hot shot woke up in the morning and was getting prepped for a chemo treatment. He watched as the nurse put a needle in the port in his chest. The chemo was to help him get better. He turned 9 last month in November he just hoped things would go well and such. Hot shot now had to wait for the session finished. He decide to go to the playroom to play with the other kids.

Hot shot enjoyed going there, it helped him normally forget all that he was going through. There were all kinds of toys and games to play. Hot shot was enjoying the playroom and having fun. After a couple of hours the nurse took him back to his room.

Once back in his room, Hot shot did some drawing and coloring, he also watched TV and played his video games. A bit later he had his lunch and had his radiation treatment. He also had some scans done of his insides.

About a couple of hours later Dr. Rhino came in to talk to Hot shot and his parents. "We are going to do surgery on Hot shot later this week," Dr. Rhino said.

"That's great," Hightemp said.

"That's good to hear," Heatwave said.

"You are going to try to get rid of my bone tumor?" Hot shot asked.

"Yes," Dr. Rhino said. "But judging by the scans it is impossible to do limb salvage surgery because it has grown into an area with one too many nerves and there is no way we can take it out and replace the damaged bone without causing further damage, so Hot shot is going to need partial amputation or full amputation of his lower left leg, if we do the full amputation of his left leg we also have to remove the knee joint for got measure to try to keep the cancer from spreading." he said.

"Will I ever walk again after that?" Hot shot asked.

"Yes we will fit you with a prosthetic leg if you want, that way you can run jump and play you will have 2 different ones, one for everyday and the other for running, jumping, playing, and sports." Dr. Rhino said.

"When can I expect my surgery to be done?" Hot shot asked.

"It is schedule two days from now, so be ready for it," Dr. Rhino said.

"Okay," Hot shot said.

"I have a question," Hot shot said.

"Okay what is it?" Dr. Rhino asked.

"How will you know to only remove part of my lower leg, or my lower leg and knee?" Hot shot asked.

"We will run some tests, blood work, and scans of your leg to see what will work best for you," Dr. Rhino answered.

"How do I walk with the prosthetic once it is made?" Hot shot asked.

"We will do physical therapy to help with that so you can walk, run, jump, play and do sports again, if you get your knee amputated the therapist will help you learn to bend the kneed of the prosthetic," Dr. Rhino said. "Your parents will have to talk to you school and teachers about what happen to help you if needed and not to leave you out of activities," he said.

"What if people say something or stare?" Hot shot asked.

"Some people will I am afraid, many of them may just be asking questions about your leg and what happened to it and such but they aren't trying to be mean spirited, just try to answer their questions, though there are some people who will be mean just try not to worry about them alright," Dr. Rhino told him.

Hot shot was a bit nervous but he knew it was to help him get better. During the next couple of days Hot shot had the tests done to find out how much of his leg was going to be removed and if he was ready for surgery.

They determined he was good to go on the surgery and they decided how much of the leg they were going to remove. Dr. Rhino told Hot shot he was ready for his surgery, they were going to do it sometime in the morning. He told Hot shot that surgery can only be done when a patient has an empty stomach so he shouldn't eat or drink anything after bedtime that night so no breakfast in the morning or food or drink of any kind until after the surgery.

Hot shot said okay to that, he wanted to help the doctors with the surgery if he could.

On the day of his surgery Hot shot was being prepared. Hot shot did what the doctors told him, he didn't eat anything since last night. He was a bit nervous but ready to go through with it.

Hot shot was taken to the operating room and given sleep medicine to make him fall asleep. Before he knew it he was asleep and the doctors went right to work. After it was over Hot shot was taken the recovery room. Hot shot woke up there and saw his parents. His left leg area felt sore and he could feel his lower leg.

"Hot shot we had to remove your entire lower left leg and the knee, but it was success it will be a couple of days before you feel like getting out of bed, we will help you learn to walk with crutches if you want to while we are making your prosthetic, or you can learn to get around in a wheelchair, you can do one of those two if anything happens to your prosthetic like if it breaks gets stole stuff like that, you don't have to decide now okay?" Dr. Rhino said.

"Okay," Hot shot said.

After a couple of days Hot shot was taken to a part of the hospital to have models made of his amputation site so they could make a comfortable prosthetic for him. The the prosthesis doctor went right to work and wrapped it around Hot shot's stump and then took it off. Then he asked Hot shot a bunch of questions what did he like, how active he was, and if he did any sports.

Hot shot answered all the questions.

Then the doctor pulled up somethings there were patterns and pictures of many different things. "Choose whatever pattern or theme you like for your legs, one for the blade which is for running, jumping, playing and doing sports, and one for your everyday leg which for every day use like going to school, shopping, or going out just to walk and climb stairs." the doctor explained.

Hot shot chose two patterns he liked for his blade he chose a red background with stars, and for his everyday one he chose one with multiple colored stars with a black surrounding it.

Then Hot shot was taken back to his room. Hot shot found it interesting to be in the wheelchair. He asked if he could be taught to navigate with it by himself. So he was being taught how to use the wheelchair so he could get around until the prosthetic was made. Hot shot was managing with it well.

Hot shot still got chemo treatments and radiation to help treat the cancer because the tests showed the cancer was still in his body and he needed more treatment but it was going well.

His friend came to visit him when Christmas break started to bring him Christmas presents from them and the rest of the class and one from Ms. Leaf his teacher and one from Mr. Iland the principal.

Hot shot was excited about the presents and couldn't wait till Christmas to open them. His aunt and uncle sent Christmas presents too as did his grandparents. On Christmas day Hot shot opened his presents, he got books, art stuff, some more nice knit hats some were store bought and others were hand made, toys, and games too. He was glad everyone thought of him.

He also got a surprise from the doctors. They brought his finish prosthetics. Hot shot had to try them on and walk around with them. He tried them one and walked them to see if they were too big or too small. Both prosthetics fit just right after trying them on one at time. He got to practice using them.

As the days passed Hot shot got to practice with them.

Hot shot got to go home on January 1st. He was so happy and excited to go home.

After a couple of weeks into the new year, Dr. Rhino said Hot shot was healthy enough to go to school. Hot shot was excited and headed back to school. He put on one of the hats his grandma Tiven knitted for him and grabbed his things and made sure his prosthetic was secure.

His mom took him to school with his little brother going with them instead of taking the bus. His mom told him to take the bus when the weather warms up because she didn't want to risk him slipping.

Once Hot shot got into the classroom he saw his classmates and they all greeted him. In fact the whole school welcomed him back. They were all so happy to see him. They liked his hat and they asked lots of questions. Hot shot did his best to answer them.

He was glad to be back in school but he still had to go to treatments like chemo and radiation for sometime.

To be continued.