When anyone encounters a problem in life, this person has one of two choices: to collapse or to challenge. Collapse, anger or submission is an easy choice; you have to do nothing. The moment your life changes with a phone call, an accident, an x-ray or a blood test the easiest respond is to cry, scream yet do nothing to change it or resist. For me such a response is a negative acceptance. You accept the fact and the dramatic change in your financial, social, physical or medical condition passively without looking for any means to salvage your sinking ship. However, this passive reaction will not change the fact and you will add to your calamity a pretty good amount of frustration, depression and anger. 

The other scenario is to resist and fight back. Take your time. Cry and get out your anger but take an action eventually. All you need to do is to calm down, be wise and think thoroughly about the situation.  Accepting the challenge to get the best out of a miserable situation is not refusing to endure the affliction all together! You have to get the best out of what is happening to you. There is definitely a message amid all the chaos. Just open your eyes and heart. Sometimes the aftermath of the disaster is the core issue. Other times, it is the actions between the lines that matters most. 

I have been there. Overnight, and without any apparent reason, my eight-year-old son started to limp. A very active boy screams in pain and his super busy mother was alerted to take an action. Orthopedic appointment and an X-ray revealed a disruption in the blood circulation of the right hip joint. A clear fragmentation in the femoral head introduced us to a rare childhood bone disease called Legg Calve Perthes. From that day on, the limp and the pain were his companions rather than his basketball ball. No more running or jumping was allowed. 

Month after month, the deterioration in the hip bone was increasing. This disease is ambiguous. It has no cause, not contagious and is not to be cured with medication. It just comes and goes away after the blood circulation is resumed efficiently. In between the two stages the bone fragments and sometimes it gets out of the socket. Eventually, the blood will be back and the bone will regrow as is the case with a dry leaf that is watered just before it withers away. There is no fixed protocol for management saving surgical intervention in delicate cases to protect the deteriorating bone and prepare the area for regrowth. As a rare disease there is not enough information in Arabic; my mother tongue. 

The only choice I had then was to contact support groups in English and read as much as I could about the so called disease also in the same language. I was so grateful to this language that I mastered as it opened the way for me to connect with information and experienced fellow mothers of Perthes warriors. Humanity brought us together despite our diverse cultural differences and tongues. They offered support and knowledge and I owed them so much.

At 9, my son was bound to an external fixation in his hip. A long journey of physical therapy followed. I was juggling a lot of balls at that time. I had to fight to save his leg as well as his aching childhood as he was deprived of many activities let alone entertainments. Having a lot on my plate with a big family to attend to, I was in a rollercoaster. 

Finally, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I was determined to hold the torch for others. I decided to write my story in Arabic. I suffered from lack of information and references in my mother tongue so I felt it was my duty to pass it around. I was lucky to have English as strong as my Arabic but what about the other native speakers?! The book with all the details about the disease and the experience was out. It is a survival kit for others. I was not satisfied with the book alone. More action has to be taken. A rare disease needs more effort so I started a support group for Arabic speaking parents to share experience and be a comfort to each other. 

I then wrote my book in English as a means of gratitude to the whole world that helped me get out of the pit. I turned the hard times into a blessing. Legg Calve Perthes was soon the cause of inspiration rather than a calamity.  “Happy Crutches” was the book that started with a “limp” and ended up with a “big smile”.