Melissa Senate

My favorite little person is six years old today. What I'll remember most about his 5th year was a moment in the emergency room. That morning, five months ago, Max got out of bed and crashed to the floor, unable to walk, unable to step down on his right leg. Prior to that, he'd been limping on and off for a couple of weeks. I'd attributed the limp to his being the world's most active kid–a fall off playground equipment, a sprain. But that morning, when he suddenly couldn't walk, when he was sobbing in pain and clutching his knee, I rushed him to the emergency room.

What Max loves more than anything is novelty. The moment I carried him into the hospital, he perked up. Everything was interesting to him, even the cot he got to lay on while waiting for the doctor. So when the nurse came in with a little chart of 5 cartoon faces, ranging from very sad to very happy, and asked him to rank how much he hurt, Max picked the happiest face, the biggest smile. 

That's my son, Max.

He started off the year in doctor's offices, specialist's office. A diagnosis: Perthes Disease, a degenerative hip condition.  Ordered non-weight-bearing, Max was prescribed a wheelchair, crutches, at-home traction 20 hours a day for 3 weeks, and physical therapy (which is the only part he hated because someone was making him move his hurt "leg." A month later came the Petrie cast, which looks something like a torture device: a cast on each leg, from upper thigh to foot, with a 2 foot-wide bar between the knees to keep the hips abducted. He spent 3 months in that. 4 months in a wheelchair.

Late last month, just after he finished kindergarten (and I bow before his teacher and the administration of his amazing school), the cast came off. Now, he wears a brace 24/7, except for swimming and biking and bathing. He is restricted from: running, jumping, climbing, sliding, hopping. But he can ride a bike and swim, two of his favorite things to do. And, he can walk. Right now, he is mastering stepping up and down stairs (after 3 months in a double-leg casts, the legs don't bend easily).

He is six years old today and doesn't seem to care in the slightest what he can't do; he's always been focused on what he can do, which has taught me the biggest lesson of my life (and I have learned some whoppers over the years).

A footnote: last year's winner of the TV show Survivor, Earl Cole, also had Perthes a child, also wore the casts and braces. He won a million bucks for racing around that island. Max, too, will be racing around again in a couple of years.

So: I wish my dear Max the happiest birthday today. He is (to use his favorite adjective): awesome.

Melissa