Thursday I had to take our son to the doctor. He’s been having hip pain for almost 2 weeks now. He came home limping one day from school. He looked like a little peg leg Pete all crumpled over his left side, hobbling with an odd gait. He said it had started the night before right after dinner, but it wasn’t that bad so he didn’t mention it to us. The next day at school, he said the pain was so much worse that on his way back from the bathroom he collapsed right inside the classroom door – he said it hurt too much to walk any more. My husband and I immediately called his pediatrician. Thankfully, she saw him right away. No fever. No other symptoms. Definite loss of range of motion. She diagnosed him on the spot. It was a classic case of synovitis. Nothing serious. It should be gone in a few days. I mentioned that I felt like H. had lost some weight recently. She offered to weigh him the next time we came in, saying she didn’t want to make him stand on his leg to step on the scale. Excuse me? Our son has hip pain and has lost weight? He could stand on his sore leg for the minute it took to weigh him. I’m glad I didn’t let it go. Turns out he’d lost 2 ½ lbs since December. Even she agreed that was rather a steep weight loss. I tried hard not to freak out. Kids have pains all the time and it’s nothing serious. Later I googled his symptoms, careful to avoid Web MD, and was relieved to find out that synovitis is quite common in children 3-8 (especially boys) and that his symptoms (minus the weight loss) were completely typical.
Fast-forward a week. The hip was still bothering him. Although, the pain seems to come and go, it's still there nevertheless. Back to the pediatrician we went. She expressed cheerful concern and booked us an appointment with an orthopedic doctor for the next day. He would do X-rays and a complete blood count. Fine. He could draw blood; do an X-ray, an MRI, test whatever the hell he wanted, just get to the bottom of our little boy’s pain. Taking H. to the doctor is usually no big deal, unless there are needles involved and then it becomes a really big deal. We told him what to expect at the new doctor’s, but he couldn’t understand why the new doctor needed to take blood if the pain was in his hip. Lots of explaining and soothing from us. It would be fine. The next day we kept him home from school. We let him lie on the couch and watch unlimited TV. When your child is sick does it really matter how much TV he watches?
When it was time to go, H. grabbed four of his favorite Star Wars books and off we went. I could tell he was very nervous. The entire drive over he chattered non-stop about Star Wars, peppering me with questions that I’d answered a thousand times before. Why did I like A New Hope best of all and how come I didn’t know that storm troopers were originally good guys? He rambled on about it as he limped through the parking lot, up the elevator and inside to the antiseptic waiting room. Star Wars. Star Wars. Star Wars. And when he crawled on my lap and showed me pictures of Ki-Adi-Mundi and grilled me on the battle of Naboo, I sat patiently, smoothing his hair, listening rapt with attention not because I love Star Wars, but because my son does and he was freaking out about seeing the doctor and talking to me about his favorite thing in the world was the only thing that seemed to be calming him down.
If you had asked me 8 years ago where Corsucant was I probably would have said a small village in the south of France. Now, thanks to our son who is, clearly from the above description, a virtual wookieepedia of all things Star Wars, I know that Corsucant, is the most politically important planet in the fictional world of Star Wars. I also know that Ahsoka Tano is Anakin Skywalker's padawan (apprentice) and that when Anakin was a young slave on the planet Tatooine he was freed by the Jedi knight Qui-Gon Jinn, who was convinced the boy was the “Chosen one.” After Jinn was murdered by Darth Maul the young Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kanobi, agreed to train Anakin in the ways of the force against the better judgment of the Jedi Council, whose fears, that the boy is too old to train, are later confirmed when Anakin is apprenticed to Chancellor Palpatine, who is really Darth Sidious, and that it’s Sidious who eventually lures Anakin to the dark side where he becomes Darth Vader.
Oh yes I’ve learned a lot about Star Wars from our son, who has all the books, DVDs, figurines, Legos, Lego Wii games, board games, light sabers, costumes, kites, t-shirts – all the sh*t I told myself we would never buy when we had a child. No, our kid would sit patiently playing with wooden blocks or drawing with non-toxic crayons, while listening to classical music. H. does listen to classical music. In fact, we took him to hear a John Williams’ Star Wars concert at the Hollywood Bowl last summer. I suppose that counts for something at least.
I’d be lying if I said Star Wars didn’t bore the living f*ck out of me. Not that I hate it. I don’t, it’s I just have so many things I need to do with my time. But I’ve realized that if I want a continuing relationship with my rapidly growing son (and I do), then I need to take an interest in his interests. And if that means fully engaging in endless discussions about Star Wars, so be it.
He won’t always love Star Wars.
He won’t always be my little boy and want to share his favorite things with me.
I can put up with his obsession for a few more years and by then our daughter will have her own interests and whatever they are, I promise I will find them just as interesting and exhausting.
Back at the doctor’s office, we talked Star Wars all the while he was on the gurney getting his X-rays. I read his Star Wars books to him when he was getting his blood drawn. We talked Star Wars down the elevator, and walking back through the parking lot, and on the drive back home. Except this time, he paused periodically to interject how brave he felt he had been with the whole blood draw thing. I could only agree. I told him he was brave. Like a real Jedi. Which one, he asked? Anakin of course. That made him happy.
Turns out (Thank God), that his hip pain is only Toxic Synovitis – which sounds worse than it is – a form of transient arthritis and his case is just taking a bit longer to go away.
Right now he’s lying on the couch watching Star Wars. I can hear the music blaring all the way in the back of the house. One day I’ll miss it. And I’m sure when I bring it up he’ll barely remember how much he loved it. But I will.
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