This began a string of many visits to the Royal Children's Hospital Rheumatology unit.

In these initial visits it was just scans and tests on tests, and then we got to the golden day where they would be draining my knee and (at the time) right thumb, and injecting with my first cortisone experience.

The procedure wasn't quite traumatizing but it could probably be called my first hallucinogenic experience, and what I thought about while I was under the nitrous was very strange.

Coming out of that procedure was night and day, at 14 years old after months of no school, not being able to bend my knee even a degree, I was able to pout full force on my knee and bend it to a comfortable level.

The years after high school I started taking my physical health a bit more seriously for a year or so, dropping myself from 105kg to 75kg over my last year of high school and the following year.

With this increased activity, came increased agitation from arthritis, and over time it started to become unbearable within the knees and ankles. Oddly, my hips were also becoming a huge issue, with femoral dislocations happening frequently, and what felt like a grinder being put to my hip socket.

 I got a referral for a Rheumatologist who has been giving me ongoing treatment for my arthritis for since 2020.

With the Rheumatologists investigations, we were able to come to a few conclusions:

• The diagnosis of Arthritis is Psoriatic Arthritis, a form of arthritis which is accompanied by Psoriasis, an inflammation of the skin.

• My left hip socket had severe damage to the Labrum, as well as Femoral Acetabular Impingement some spurs of excess bone that had developed and were grinding on my pelvis

• Both hips had developed Hip Dysplasia, a condition where the acetabulum does not cover the Femoral Head sufficiently, resulting in instability and the constant dislocations.

Working with the Orthopedic surgeon over the following 3 years was a roller coaster.

Given that COVID had exploded just as I was having all of these diagnoses, it had put a bit of a delay on the options for surgery I had, but since it was considered a critical surgery, we were able to commence in the beginning of 2021, to get me through to that point, I was given a guided cortisone injection directly into the joint. This relief was amazing.

Once April came, we were ready for part 2 of the process, the first of the major procedures.

The Peri-Acetabular Osteotomy is an invasive reconstructive procedure that as the name implies, involves cutting the acetabulum from the hip, re-aligning it so that it covers the Femoral head appropriately, then using 4 Titanium screws to hold the socket in its new position as it heals.

This was a bit of a longer stay in hospital, a week of hospital care which I will be forever grateful for, the pain from this one even with the assistance from pain relief was astronomical.

While I was in the bed for the week, slowly making progress with bathroom visits and incrementally building up to a slow assisted walk with crutches, they had me hooked up to all sorts of machines that all played a totally different role.

• IV for hydration and general IV medications. 

• The Ketamine drip providing a slow release of the drug directly into the site in low doses

• A Continuous Passive Motion machine, which would consistently flex the hip and knee at a programmed angle and speed to match the stage of recovery I was at.

There is one aspect of these surgeries that I will look back on with absolute disgust and trauma, that I honestly wouldn't wish on anyone to experience...

Dr Slattery had to position the acetabulum slightly offset from where it would normally meet the pelvis in order to have my leg line up properly and not disturb the alignment of my knees...

Because of this, there was a slight gap at the base where we were expecting the bone to bridge across and form a new connection.

This gap was an issue, due to the fact that it sat directly next to the sciatic nerve, and you can probably see where this is going...

The exercises I was given involved a lot of bending forward, which put tension on the sciatic nerve down my leg, and occasionally, the nerve would get "snagged" on the gapped piece of bone.

It is exactly as painful as it sound, but the initial snag was nothing compared to when it finally came loose and caught up with its slack. The way I like to describe it is like imagine the sciatic nerve is a guitar string, and the bone plucks it like a pick.

This send shock waves through the legs and body and excruciating pain on the site of the injury.

September 2021 rolled around and it was time to perform the right side PAO.

This time I had some reference for what to expect pain-wise.

Unfortunately it didn't matter, this was a whole new experience unto itself.

The nurses this time around were a blast,  and given that I would be in hospital for a total of 8 days this time, in order to avoid a repeat of coming home too early, that was a plus.

It was a lot of fun to be able to go through the process and actually have an understanding and be able to expect what was to come from the hospital stay.

However, this time around my body reacted in a way I couldn't have imagined, I fell into severe spasms in my right leg, all around and among the muscles and bones that had been worked on, this remains the only time I have ever been administered Morphine after begging for any sort of release through a flood of tears.

1 year later, despite all of the pain and re-configuring of my hips, we were in a completely different place. I hadn't felt a pain free stride in my hips for years, but now I was walking for kilometers, and riding the bike even further.

Physio is going amazingly and they are really impressed with my progress.

Its now Q4 of 2022, and we ware ready to take the screws out, Dr Slattery had me complete an MRI to confirm we had sufficient fusion between all contact points.

Until...

Within the first week of being home from the pin removal, I had a large red lump over the site, and it was very-very oozy with pus.

I made a visit to the Echuca emergency room, and after just over an hour of waiting they fast tracked me to speak to the Dr in charge.

I had developed a sepsis over the site where Dr Slattery cut down to the screws on my left side.

Given the severity of the situation, I had heard from Dr Slattery the very next day to organize a time to get the infection addressed. He couldn't have been more apologetic and concerned for me which was really nice to hear.

Thankfully this was toward the end of 2022 when COVID rules in the city were really starting to calm down, to the point where even hospitals didn't require masks or tests anymore. 

So in between my infusions I was able to get out and about and explore the city to the best of my ability, so long as I was back in tie for the nurse to hook me up.