My Dis-Abled Journey

My names Stacey! Im 24 years old, A mum of 3 kids under 4 - Oliver, Maddison & Lilly- Mae Im from Invercargill This is my story.......... from being disabled to abled! When I was born mum received the news I had clicky hips (hip dysplasia) She was told to double nap me for 2 weeks hoping it would fix it, I should have been back for a follow up at 3 months, But had slipped though the cracks an wasn't called back until 5 months, When Mum was given the news I would be back the following week to be admitted for 4 weeks an to have my legs in traction to prepare my hips for frog plaster. I was then taken into theatre an put into frog plaster for 4 months. It was then removed after that time, I learnt how to walk at 13 months old, I was given regular check ups until 5 - Then given the all clear! Until ............ I was 14, I was a competitive rower and normal teenager, I ran everyday & was very fit, Then my hips started clicking out an dislocating , doing normal things, just like walking. Mum made an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon, She was told I needed hip surgery and soon, I was to have a ganz-Osteotomy, a surgery designed in Switzerland in which they are to cut my pelvis in 2 places, rotate and bolt into place - Still was relatively new in New Zealand, And was only able to be done in Starship, in Auckland. I had my surgery on the 2nd of june 2004, The day after my 15th birthday. It was to be straight forward, a 7 hour operation, then a 2 week recovery period in starship. The surgery went to plan , Until The epidural that was meant to paralyse me from the waist down failed, I was in the worst pain I had ever been in or could imagine, It all happened so quickly, The were machines surrounding me, One to help me breath, another for my heart rate, one for morphine, fluids & epidural. With a crash cart sitting at my door, Mum & Dad were told I was critical, 1 lung had collapsed, The other was partially collapsed, I had suspected blood clots, Was given blood transfusions, without them I would have died. After being in intense pain for 8 days, A urgent MRI, CT scan , Ultrasound & X-ray were booked, Mum was given the bad news I was to be rushed back into theatre, My pelvis had shattered an collapsed an was sitting on my sciatic nerve and had bone chips everywhere , The trauma specialist from Auckland who repaired it said it was worse than any car accident he had seen. They didn't know what kind of damage it had done until I was out of theatre, To find I couldn't move my leg at all due to the damage to the nerve, I was in severe nerve pain, to the stage they would just sedate me, Mum & I were given the news I couldn't walk, They didn't know if I ever would again. I was sent back home to live in a wheel chair an hospital bed in mums lounge, she become my full time carer, Soon enough I was back in starship for nearly another 3 weeks as they couldn't control the pain at kew, I needed a pain specialist. Once they had managed to control my pain, Me and mum were sent to live in Wilson centre in auckland, A Child Rehabilitation Service. Where I went to school, also had intense physio twice a day hoping I could walk again,We were here for 5 weeks I remained in a wheelchair for 9 months, then onto crutches, I wore a brace on my leg for my foot drop, I was in and out of hospital for the next 1 1/2 years due to severe pain, another surgery to remove my 8cm screws that were falling out, more to add cement to my hip as it wasn't fusing as well as more to clean out infection after infection. I was put on multiple pills a day to control the pain, to which some of the side effects were increased hunger, Some of these pills I am still on today - I always felt hungry! I met my now husband at school, Then came the questions we never thought to ask, Would I be able to carry kids? He wasn't sure, No one was sure how my hip would hold up. We become pregnant with oliver, Everything went great, the only complication was needing a emergency c-section due to my hips, 12 months later we had maddy, no major complications , only increased pain, then december 2013 we had Lilly, I was in severe pain, was put on very strong pain killers to control the pain, they didnt work, I was put on bedrest for 7 weeks. So here we are now, Lilly has done damage to my left hip (the one that has been operated on) I also have quite bad damage to the right, I am in pain everyday, Along with still not having full feeling in my leg (can only feel about 50% of it, I still have foot drop) I have suffered through depression, Had 3 pregnancies close together - As I probably would not have been able to carry after more hip surgery. I need more surgery - some to repair the right and possibly tidy up the left, Due to the complications from last time, My surgeon needs me to be as healthy as i can be, He also needs me to loose 50kg. Here is our problem, I need the hip surgery as soon as possible - due to the pain im in - This surgery should hold off a hip replacement for atleast 10-20 years, Im not allowed to do anything other than aqua jogging- which other medical problems is preventing me from doing this at the moment , otherwise I would damage my hip to the point where he cannot operate to fix it, I am too young for a hip replacement, as they only last so long. A healthy diet won't allow me to loose 50kg as fast as we need to. He has requested I have gastric bypass so I can not only loose the weight for my hip surgery, But to keep the weight off to make my hips last longer, I have been referred to the surgeon down here, The first time I was turned down as I wasn't heavy enough, I was told to eat more to qualify, The 2nd time they weighed me whilst pregnant - I just made it in. They have now since changed to target again, Also they have merged with Dunedin an only do 18 surgeries a year between the 2 towns, For the people waiting for this operation having diabetes scores you top of the chart, They require you to meet 90 points to meet their target, Which I don't, My surgeon has stressed how urgent this is, And that this is our only option. But if I don't meet the points for public (which i wont unless I had diabetes) there is nothing they can do to get me in, Our only option is going private, which we cannot afford to do- The cost of the surgery is $23,000, As due to my hips I cannot work a proper job. So here I am, I need help, I need to raise money to get this surgery, so I can have my hips fixed, so I can enjoy life, and go back to being in as little pain as possible and start to do physical things with my kids, little things like getting on my knees to bath them etc ...... I am hoping to change this! ? To help in this I am currently a member of weight watchers and have managed to loose 6kg, This is a good start, but will not help get the weight off fast enough, For the hip surgery I need ASAP Some days are better than others, But i have learnt to smile through the pain, I don't like my kids to see me so sore, Its a hard feeling when I have to say ""no, we cant do that, mummys to sore"" Hopefully once this surgery is done, I wont have to use that excuse again for a very long time!