Natalie's story
It is very uncommon for someone my age to have ahip replacement, and many people fail to understand the difficulties a younger person has to face when living with a chronic condition, especially one that is worsening.
很少有人真正了解我正在经历的事情，这在情感和身体上都非常困难。由于缺乏对我的关节炎如何影响我的知识，人们仍然期望我做我真的做不到的事情。我希望通过强调我在大学期间进行关节炎和髋关节置换的经历，它将更好地了解年轻人如何受到疾病的影响。
我在五岁的病毒感染后患有关节炎。我开始使用类固醇，似乎运作良好，2003年，我被注射了。从那时起，我的生活似乎进展顺利。经过一定的水平，我想上大学并成为职业治疗师，我感觉足够好了。
My first year of university in 2004 went really well; I made lots of friends and had fun! But when I started my second year my left hip began hurting when I walked. I thought it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Over Christmas 2005 it got worse. I saw my orthopaedic consultant who said my hip was showing signs of severe degeneration; I needed a replacement. At this point I was still active, and convinced myself that I’d be OK to wait to have the operation in summer 2006. The thought of having a hip replacement really scared me. I didn’t want to have it unless I absolutely had to.
2006年1月来了，我不能走得超过五分钟：我的臀部锁定坐着，很难走路或从椅子上站起来而不被弯腰弯腰。
2月，我们所有人都通过了一项考试，并安排出去庆祝。我告诉自己我会小心。坐下而不是跳舞。夜晚开始得很好，尽管想和其他所有人跳舞，但我仍然节省了自己的能量。到午夜，我感到被打碎了，看着每个人都度过了愉快的时光，所以我最终离开了。第二天我无法走路。我将自己送上止痛药，不得不使用我的移动踏板车从我的房间到厕所，只有几秒钟的路程。我感到很生气，因为我现在知道我过去喜欢的生活的每个部分，因为一切似乎都受到痛苦的主导。我什么都不做。
I now wasn’t able to go out with my friends, go shopping, or walk around campus. I had no choice but to use the scooter to get around, but I hated it. Normally I hid my arthritis well; few people had ever noticed that there was anything ‘different’ about me and I liked it that way. I had always hated anything that drew attention to my illness or showed people how I wasn’t like them.
My academic life was suffering as I was constantly tired and always drowsy from the painkillers. Doing coursework was difficult, as I just stayed in my room and slept. I missed days and had to catch up. I think I was in denial, believing that as I had coped with pain before, I could cope now, convinced I didn’t need the surgery. At the time I felt waiting was the right thing to do. The thought of being set back a year at university for something that wasn’t my fault was in some ways my motivation to continue and a way of me controlling something for a change.
But by March 2006 I really couldn’t kid myself any longer. I couldn’t cope any more and university was becoming a nightmare. I still feel sad that I lost out on a lot of my university life in that second year; I’ll never get that year back. I kept in contact with my friends but I couldn’t feel a part of things like I did.
I had my operation in June 2006 and the pain immediately disappeared, which was a really strange feeling. The pain had become a part of my life – I had been experiencing it everyday. Afterwards, I was completing four hours a day of physiotherapy alongside hydrotherapy. I still felt as though I had no life, as my life had become filled with the exercises I had to do to get my hip muscles strong. I found myself in a really low state, and one night, the realisation of the operation I’d had suddenly hit me, and I felt nobody understood what it was like. As I didn’t get to see many friends or family following the surgery, I was convinced that nobody cared. At this point I was feeling physically well and I was dying to get back out with friends, but due to the precautions I was following for 12 weeks I couldn’t. Now the pain had gone I just wanted to be free...be normal...and get on with my life.
由于我错过了四月份的临床安置，现在似乎可以在夏天完成操作。安排了一个本地安排，我在手术后八周开始了。不用说，在八周的时间里，安置很挣扎。由于缺乏能量和康复，我正在与疲劳作斗争，当我使用手杖时，我面临着关于自我形象的问题。再说一次，这引起了我的注意，我并不像其他所有人一样……不知何故，这些棍子使我感觉更脆弱，比在安置时通常感觉到的能力更低。我感到被他们和“残疾人”的关联所掩盖。另外，更换我的臀部，另一个臀部开始给我问题。这使得位置更加困难，因为我现在在康复之外面临另一个问题。
外科医生说这可能会发生，因为一旦左侧的限制走了，右侧现在就“弱”。但是，这不是一个大问题，所以我从2006年9月开始了第三年。
右臀部的持续时间比左侧更长。由于我以前的经历，我采取的措施更容易避免任何会加重臀部的事情，而且我知道如何加快自己的步调并应对大学周围的困难。我真的为最需要的东西节省了自己的能量。我设法在没有手术的情况下完成了学位……只是！毕业后一周我有第二个臀部。
现在，两个臀部感觉都很好，我做的比很长一段时间以来所做的要多得多。我去过一日游，漫长的散步和长途旅行 - 我非常想念这一点！
The past two years have been the hardest of my life but I never wanted to let my arthritis get the better of me. I am glad that I managed to finish my degree on time and with a good result. One thing I will say to others with chronic conditions is, just because you have an illness, do not let this affect something you want to do. There is always support and ways to get around a problem.
我追求了自己的职业道路，尽管我仍然遇到了障碍。我向自己和其他人证明了我有能力获得学位，我只需要在路上改变自己的课程...