From Marathons to Medical Miracles with Kait

Could you imagine enduring years of chronic pain, only to discover it was more than just "growing pains"? Meet Kait, our remarkable guest who shared her compelling journey from a passionate marathon runner to navigating a labyrinth of medical challenges. From femoral acetabular impingement to labral tears, Kait opens up about her painful experiences that began at the young age of 13 and escalated through her college years. In a candid conversation, she recounts her difficult first surgery, marked by complications and a surgeon's lack of empathy, and how self-advocacy led her to a successful second surgery with a more compassionate professional. Kait's story highlights the importance of finding the right healthcare provider and advocating for oneself.

Our discussion takes a deeper turn as Kait reveals her struggle with miserable malalignment syndrome, a rare condition that significantly impacted her life. Thanks to the support of online communities and thorough research, she eventually found the right diagnosis and treatment options, ranging from braces and injections to extensive surgeries. Kait speaks about the added complexity of hypermobility and the potential diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), stressing the importance of understanding one’s body and seeking proper medical advice. Her journey underscores the necessity of community support and the role it played in her path to better health.

But it's not all about struggles and surgeries. Kait shares how she finds joy amidst adversity, from traveling and enjoying soccer games to the therapeutic benefits of equine therapy. Her love for cooking healthy meals and the simple pleasures of being a morning person brings a refreshing light to the conversation. We explore how equine therapy has aided in her healing and enriched her career in occupational therapy. Kate’s experience is a testament to resilience, the power of supportive healthcare, and finding happiness even in the face of life's greatest challenges. Join us for an inspiring episode that reminds us of the incredible strength of the human spirit.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Kate's Journey Through Multiple Surgeries
• 8:07 Navigating Complex Medical Diagnoses and Treatments
• 18:38 Finding Joy Through Life's Adventures
• 32:25 Healing Through Equine Therapy

Transcript

Jen: 0:08

Well, hi my Spoonie sisters, it's your host, gracefully, Jen, and I have the pleasure of sitting down with Kae today. Kate is a writer, a rehab runner and an occupational therapist, and I'm so excited to sit down and have her share her story with us today. So, hi, kate, how are you? How are you? I'm doing well. I'm so excited to have you here. I'm really excited to be here. So do you mind telling us a little bit about yourself, I guess your background, and a little bit about your health journey? Absolutely.

Kait: 0:43

So I am a runner. As you mentioned, I live a pretty active lifestyle. However, with my diagnosis, it's caused me to take a step back from all of the activities that I love to do and that I find meaningful. So I kind of have a long diagnosis story. I started noticing pain when I was about 13 years old and I had pain in my knees. But I thought the pain was normal. I thought it was just growing pains, and so I kind of ignored it and didn't really talk much about my pain. But then my pain started getting worse when I was in college and at that point I was running a lot. I was running half marathons and trying to train for a full marathon. That's awesome, I know. It was awesome. I had so much fun and I feel like I've learned a lot about myself, you know, through through that training.

Kait: 1:41

But I started getting really bad pain in my hips and my knees as well.

Kait: 1:49

So I first thought like maybe I need to go to a chiropractor, like there was something more like wrong with my lower back.

Kait: 1:56

And then I like it got to the point where it was hard to like put on my pants by myself, like I needed my roommates to help me and like, stepping into the shower was really hard and I definitely was getting kind of scared that the basic tasks were really hard for me. So I went to the chiropractor and it felt like it was just getting worse. I continued to run at that time too, because I had signed up for races that I didn't want to miss, and eventually it got to the point where it was unbearable and I had to see a doctor, like an orthopedic surgeon, to see what was actually going on. So my first diagnosis was actually something called femoral acetabular impingement and a labral tear. So that essentially means that the head of the femur was shaped abnormally and it was causing tears in the labrum, which is the cartilage that goes around the hip joint. So I ended up having surgery to fix that issue first.

Jen: 3:07

So do they think this is something you were born with or that kind of somehow happened over time?

Kait: 3:12

I'm not really sure about impingements. I think it could be either, or I mean I'm pretty sure it was mostly like I was born that way. I also think, because I am hyperflexible, your body naturally adapts to that and it probably built up the bone to help keep it a little more stable, but really it was just tearing the cartilage around it.

Jen: 3:37

My gosh. Okay, so you had to have surgery. How did the surgery go?

Kait: 3:42

The first surgery was not good at all. Um they, the surgeon, was not very gentle with me, like like bedside manner wise. He definitely scared me. Like before the surgery he actually told me that if I had the surgery before I took my occupational therapy boards, that I would fail. I don't know why I didn't just walk away at that moment, Because I mean, I think that was totally inappropriate to say because he didn't know me and he didn't know how I do academically, Like he has absolutely no idea.

Jen: 4:19

I agree with you. That seems absolutely inappropriate for him to say it was, it's not his business, that's not what he was there for.

Kait: 4:28

Nope, not at all. But I ended up having the surgery with him anyway because, like locally, he was like one of the most experienced surgeons like performing the surgery. So afterwards, like I mean just a day post-op, I was bleeding a lot and I kind of felt like something wasn't right and like that first week was horrific recovering from the surgery. Like I kept just like bleeding from the incision sites, which the incisions aren't like. They weren't that big, they were like little keyhole incisions, so I'm not really sure why that happened.

Kait: 5:02

And then I like had some trouble breathing and I found out afterwards it was because he like has to kind of like dislocate my hip to get to the spot and he was like using my body to like torque against it and I don't know. I just had this like awful vibe about him. And then I actually found out, like only a few months afterwards, when I went through physical therapy and I was working towards running again because that is my ultimate goal is to run again and like I tore my labrum again and so I went back to him and was like well, what's going on? And his response was well, I don't know what to do with you anymore, so you just need to go see someone else. And so I ended up getting another opinion and I had another MRI and I found out that my the shape of my femur was worse than it was when I went into the surgery the first time. Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?

Jen: 6:00

I'm not kidding you, I was trying to keep it.

Kait: 6:04

What did you do? I had another surgery to fix it. This time around I went to a few surgeons before, got multiple opinions. I found a surgeon that I was really comfortable with and I trusted and then I had the surgery with him and then, like the recovery from that was so much easier than the first one, like I wasn't bleeding out, like I was the first time and yeah, I mean it was wild. So just there I had two surgeries and then I ended up having a third one to address the same thing on the other hip, because both my hips were hurting Really. Essentially it was both of my legs that just hurt all the time. And how old were you at the time? At the time of my first surgery, I was 23.

Jen: 6:55

Okay, okay, wow, that is rough. I mean, did you live near your parents to get any kind of help from your family? Okay, that's great, that's great.

Kait: 7:03

All my family lives pretty close, so I did have some good support through all of that, which is great.

Jen: 7:09

Oh, wow, okay. So after the third surgery and this one being on the other side, did that one go pretty well?

Kait: 7:15

That one went well, yes. However, I was still experiencing a lot of pain and it was like a different type of pain, I guess. So, like with the labor, I'm like you know it's very localized Like I could feel exactly where the tear was, could feel exactly where the tear was. But there was actually a larger issue that was causing all of that pain and I attempted to return to running after those three surgeries and I was doing pretty well and then the pain just got really bad, really really bad, to the point where I couldn't walk without a limp and like people would see me trying to walk and they're like, like it hurts me to see you walk because it looks so painful. So I knew I needed to continue to search for answers.

Kait: 8:08

So I ended up posting in a Facebook group. So I was a part of like a hip impingement Facebook group and like a runners with hip injuries group, and I posted a picture of my legs and I said, hey, is there anything like that? You guys can see that like might be wrong with my legs. I like I look at them and I think they're very, very crooked. What do you think? And somebody commented that I needed to join a miserable malalignment Facebook group because just looking at my legs, it looked like I could possibly have that. So I joined the group and people like encouraged me to get another opinion and to look for somebody. And people encouraged me to get another opinion and to look for somebody like look for a surgeon who really looks at the alignment of your bones rather than just the hip joint or just the knee. So I ended up finding a surgeon close to me. I ended up diagnosing me with miserable malalignment syndrome.

Jen: 9:11

Wow, okay, so now you have this new diagnosis. What does that mean? Is that something fixable, treatable, helpable?

Kait: 9:20

Yes. However, I hope some people like if it's, if it's a mild case, they could get by with, you know, wearing braces to help, to help the joints keep it a little bit more stable. I mean, I think some people have had success with injections, but that never worked for me. Physical therapy, I mean people, people will try to go through that to see if, like strengthening the muscles around the joints, will help. However, in my case it was a little more severe than that and I needed to have extensive surgery on my legs.

Jen: 11:01

Wow, Okay, and were you still around the age 23, or were you a little older by then?

Kait: 11:08

At that point I was diagnosed when I was 27. So I went four years of like going through those first three surgeries and trying to run again and then having to take a break, and then it got to the point, like four years later, that I just I couldn't do it anymore. I needed an answer and I needed a fix because, yeah, it was, it was really painful.

Jen: 11:33

Did you already at this point know that you were hyper mobile?

Kait: 11:35

I did. I've always known that I'm a little hyper mobile, Like I, you know, can do contorted positions with my body and like sitting in chair Like I was that kid. Like sitting in class that was sitting with like my legs all like weird in the chair, Like I like I could never get comfortable. But the most comfortable positions are the ones that probably like like my legs all like weird in the chair Like I like I could never get comfortable. But the most comfortable positions are the ones that probably like look the most painful and would put other people in the hospital.

Jen: 12:04

No, I know exactly what you're talking about. I was that weird kid too, and my daughter, my daughter also, and you know, just a couple years ago she was diagnosed as being hypermobile and so totally, absolutely, I get what you mean.

Kait: 12:17

It's almost like a pretzel yeah, I'm actually sitting that way in the chair now, and I should probably not well, I mean, if you could see what I was doing.

Jen: 12:24

I'm over here and I keep wiggling because I can't get my legs in a position that I like, and so, yeah, I promise I'm listening to you. But every time you see me wiggling and I get a weird look on my face is because I can't figure out how I want my legs to be. I hear you, I'm exactly the same. I'm telling you listeners, if you know, you know. So with that hypermobile, I'm looking at your account right now and I see you have EDS as well.

Kait: 12:47

Yeah, it's suspected, like I haven't had the actual genetic testing. But I recently went to a rheumatologist and he was like you're extremely hypermobile. Like I scored a nine out of nine on that, on that assessment. So he was like I wouldn't doubt it If you, if you had that like the one that only affects, like the, the hyper mobility. Was it like HGDS or something like that?

Jen: 13:11

Something like that yeah, they want my daughter to go get genetic testing for that and she's been putting it off for over a year now. And I'm that annoying mom. That is like do you listen to my podcast? Do you pay attention to the community? Like, can you please do this?

Kait: 13:25

already. It's important information to know you know, because the more you know like, the more you can help yourself Absolutely.

Jen: 13:34

Absolutely, and I think you know there's a lot of people out there. You know she's in her early twenties and I think at that point you're still getting to know your body and your, and so it can be a scary thing. But I'm again, I'm that annoying mom. We all need one of those, I think. Yes, I feel like somebody has to because she's not doing it.

Kait: 13:55

In your early twenties like I can speak to this, Like I thought I was invincible. I was still running and I had severe pain in my legs?

Jen: 14:04

Oh, absolutely. And, and you know, before my diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, I thought I was going to do roller Derby. So you know, we, we all have our thing. You know, sometimes we don't want to admit that there's something going on with our bodies that is, or we just still want to do the life that we enjoy, absolutely Okay. So you've had all these diagnoses, you've gone through all these surgeries, so where are you at now?

Kait: 14:32

Well. So after I had the diagnosis of miserable malalignment syndrome, I needed a lot of surgery and actually I've had nine surgeries up to this point. Yes, so the surgeries to fix the alignment of my legs require breaking the bones and rotating them so they're straight and so they can like support my joints. I had a femoral osteotomy on my right leg first. That was my first surgery after my diagnosis of MMS and that was really painful, broken femur is. After that I had a tibial osteotomy, so that's breaking my tibia and rotating it, and then I had to have the hardware removed from because they they like when they break your leg, they put the hardware. I had a plate and screws and those were two separate surgeries to take it out.

Kait: 15:34

I ended up needing a labral reconstruction on my right leg after that. So I think because my labrum had been operated on so many times, and then the fact that, like my femur, wasn't aligned in the hip joint, that definitely continued to re-injure the labrum. So the surgeon that I have been working closely with he we decided that the labrum needed to come out and I have a cadaver labrum now in my hip. And then most recently I've had my left femoral osteotomy. Most recently I've had my left femoral osteotomy.

Kait: 16:15

So as we're sitting here talking, I have a broken femur. Wow, it's painful, but I'm getting through. And then, after this I'll probably I'll need a tibial osteotomy on my left as well, and then taking out the hardware, so hopefully I have another. Only three surgeries left on my legs, but I also just recently found out last week that I need surgery on my arms as well. It's been a lot, and I wouldn't have expected this, but that those surgeries will involve breaking my arms and actually shortening the bones. How I ended up needing all like bone breaking surgery, I don't know, but that's that's do you almost wonder if these doctors just find joy in breaking bones?

Jen: 17:06

I mean not really, but I mean, you know, there's that dark humor in us sometimes. It was like, oh they just, they just like breaking bones. This is fun for them it's crossed my mind.

Kait: 17:16

However, it's not like common. These things aren't as as common. Um, like the surgeon I just saw, uh, regarding my arms, he was like, yeah, I mean I had maybe maybe 20 people a year. I mean it's, it's out there, but you don't hear about everybody going in to break their arms. And then I think it's even it's even less with, I'm sure, with miserable malalignment syndrome. I think it's. I mean, it's out there but it's not. I don't know anybody personally that like I've come across. You know, in my own community that has this.

Jen: 17:58

So wow, wow. So on the hard days, on the days where you're sitting here in pain, talking to people with broken bones, what keeps you motivated? What keeps you going? Let's see.

Kait: 18:11

I definitely find motivation in the community that I've come across through social media. I like before all this, I wasn't really big on social media. However, I think at one point I craved, you know, finding people who get it, who actually get it, because I felt like nobody in my personal life understood what I was going through. So definitely like finding community. And then the other thing that keeps me going is something that my boyfriend and I have worked really hard to do, but like putting something on our calendar to look forward to, because for the longest time, I felt like it was like the thing that I was looking forward to not actually looking forward to, but that I kind of had to look towards was surgery. Like it was surgery after surgery nine times and I just really needed something fun. So we make it a point to always have something on the calendar to look forward to.

Jen: 19:14

Can you give us an example of one of those fun things?

Kait: 19:18

Yeah, so we like to travel. We've gone I mean even like with my condition, like I went on a trip with a broken femur and yes, it was hard, but really enjoyed my time. We also love soccer. We also love soccer. We're very big on soccer, so every week or so I go to our local soccer games and I have also gone to see teams like Wrexham and Chelsea. I don't know if you know what's around soccer.

Jen: 19:52

I have no idea, but I can see the joy in your face. I'm assuming that's a big deal.

Kait: 20:01

And that was. It was a good opportunity because those teams are from the UK, so we don't we don't see them here unless they play friendly matches. So just a few weeks ago they had a friendly pretty close by and we went to that. So like that was super exciting because, you know, to me it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we also we went to a concert. It's my favorite band, like literally my favorite band since I was five, and they like got together again for their 25-year reunion and they came to the US because they're originally they're from the UK and that just that helped so much like lift my spirits because, like there's a band that I listened to when I'm feeling really down. So what band is it? I'm sure nobody's ever heard of it S club, s club. I have no idea. Early Okay.

Jen: 20:50

I have no idea, but now I have to look them up. I'm looking for a piece of paper right now. They're no idea, but now I have to look them up. I'm looking for a piece of paper right now.

Kait: 20:57

They're very like you know, it's like happy music and I think like that's what I need at this point in my life. I need some, you know, uplifting cheery music, and their song Bring it All Back is kind of my anthem. Okay, I found it.

Jen: 21:18

Ooh, okay, I'm looking at their moves.

Jen: 21:19

oh yeah, I wish oh yeah, they definitely look like they are having a lot of fun. Okay, I'm adding it to my apple music right now so that I can check it out, because I'm a huge fan of all fun music I love listening to like a lot of eighties nineties. You know, I was born in the eighties, my childhood was late eighties nineties and, of course, I love all the fun stuff, so I'm going to add this to my and it looks like this Nope, they just made this. They have a single that came out in 2024. It looks like.

Jen: 21:51

Yes they do. Okay, wow, it's called Good Times For those of you that want to go check it out. We can all have good times. Thank you for sharing. I'm going to ask you some very random questions just for fun, because I'm sure there's people out there that want to hear all these random fun things about you.

Kait: 22:11

So your perfect vacation would it be a, I would say, mountain retreat only because I live, like, right on the coast, so I get the beach, I can see the ocean from where I'm sitting right now. So I would say mountain retreat you are a lucky, lucky girl.

Jen: 22:33

I am All right Cooking at home or dining out.

Kait: 22:37

Cooking at home. Absolutely. I actually just kind of found my groove in cooking. I was never really a cook before and, like in the last year, I've been really into making healthy meals and it's been a lot of fun.

Jen: 22:52

What are your favorite types of foods? I love salad.

Kait: 22:55

It probably sounds so boring.

Jen: 22:57

I love salad, but I'm assuming it's not just a regular boring salad. There's got to be some fancy salad, yeah.

Kait: 23:04

So I make something that I call a health bowl, and I have arugula, I have some sweet potato and quinoa pumpkin seeds. I throw all kinds of healthy stuff in there. It's really good.

Jen: 23:16

That sounds kind of like the Buddha bowls I like to make.

Jen: 23:19

Ooh yeah, that's good. Yeah, if you look on Pinterest, they have a million different ideas of things to throw in there, and of course I love the sweet potato and onion and some tomatoes, but I really, really love they have grilling cheese. I don't know if you've ever heard of it, but it's. You can actually like grill it in a pan on your stove without it just melting everywhere, and then you can slice it into like little chunks and throw it all over your little Buddha bowl or whatever it is. You're making salad, whatever. Yes, yes. So definitely find you some grilling cheese. If you have any of those, like I don't know, I call them the fancy grocery stores, the ones that have like the million different kinds of whole food. No, I was gonna say whole foods.

Jen: 24:04

That's where I go I mean maybe whole foods trader, joe's, any of those kind of places. I'm sure they've got some grilling cheese. Definitely check it out. It's so good. Okay, I'm gonna'm going to check that out. Okay, I can easily lead us in crazy directions and take up more time.

Kait: 24:22

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning person Hands down. I feel like I wake up early and then, as soon as afternoon hits, I'm just kind of like it's time to rest. I get all my hard tasks out of the way in the morning.

Jen: 24:34

So early as in early enough to see the sunrise Sometimes. Yeah See, I would love to be that person. I'm the complete opposite. I take after my dad. I could easily stay up till midnight, 2am. I don't know how I do it, but somehow I do, and then I'm still up by 8am. I don't know. I mean, I'm in bed at like. My husband goes to bed at 7 30. He's asleep by 8. Uh, he works at 4 in the morning, so that's probably why and he's always like you should come to bed with me.

Kait: 25:08

No, no you're like, I still have another four or five hours it's summer, it's still light out.

Jen: 25:15

No, thank you. I am not crawling into bed at 730 when it's bright outside, okay, so how about tea or coffee?

Kait: 25:24

That's a really hard one because I like both a lot, but coffee has my heart and I will tell you why. My family is actually from Costa Rica and I will tell you why my family is actually from Costa Rica. So, like when I go there, I feel like I drink the absolute best coffee ever.

Jen: 25:42

And I always bring some back. Oh, that's awesome. And I feel like I hear a lot that in other countries they don't drink coffee the way that we do. They come in little portions and they look at us like we're crazy if we're wanting big, giant cups of coffee.

Kait: 25:55

Yeah, yeah, that's kind of I feel like. Yeah, I feel like they come in little and little um cups and coats very guttily so yeah, so do you like to drink yours black?

Jen: 26:08

you know just straight how it comes, or?

Kait: 26:11

um, I definitely like drinking it black. Sometimes I will add a little something in it, but black is just as as good as having like a little creamer or something and what kind of tea do you like? Any, I well but I feel like the tea that I can actually like notice a change and like how I'm feeling is like peppermint, like a mint, like a mint tea, something like stimulating, if that makes sense also like the things that like relax, like the chamomile and I'm trying to think the oh Jasmine green tea.

Kait: 26:46

I really those are all very calming for me. So I feel like it depends on like the kind of mood I'm in If I go for tea or coffee, like I always, every single morning, I have to have coffee. I think part of it is to kind of help me wake up, but it's also like my ritual. You know my favorite morning ritual.

Jen: 27:07

Absolutely. I think we all have that thing, that it's just like our day is not right without that taste.

Kait: 27:12

Exactly, exactly, but then, like tea is what I go to like. You know, if I feel like I need something to pick me up, like during the day, or something, you know something happens and I need to calm down, I'll make a cup of teas. It just depends.

Jen: 27:27

Yeah, and you know I find that I drink more tea in the evenings just because I do want something just warm and soothing and relaxing and I do a lot of like anti-inflammatory type teas. But it also depends on the time of year, you know, fall and winter. They have all those different kinds that have lots of cinnamon and just it's like Christmas in a cup. I have to have it. I love it. Okay, so do you have any resources or support that you would recommend or you find helpful?

Kait: 27:56

One of my favorite resources is Miles for Hips. It's a I think it's a patient run organization through the International Hip Dysplasia Institute and they have a lot of personal stories on their website about you know, different types of hip conditions. So you know some people have hip dysplasia, others have had total hip replacements and I might be the only miserable malalignment syndrome one on there, but they have all kinds of stories and I think you know if anybody is experiencing pain in their hips or their legs. They have a lot of good resources. They also, I believe, have videos of you know, if you have hip surgery, how you can do your activities of daily living, which, since I'm an occupational therapist, I love that because you know they show you how to use, like how to put on your pants after surgery, like all those you know, functional tasks, yeah. So that's that's a definite top resource for me.

Kait: 29:03

I've also found a lot, of, a lot of use for listening to podcasts. I think can really help me, and I found a bunch of really good ones. Obviously, yours is amazing. I hear other people's stories Even if you don't have that diagnosis. You can find something valuable in each podcast, which is awesome. I've also really liked Major Pain Podcast. That's a good one, just listening to all the different conditions that are out there, so that's another really helpful resource. For me. It's just listening to other people's stories. And then Facebook groups. Actually, I wasn't really into social media until I came across that and I'm just like, oh well, these groups can help you.

Kait: 29:46

And there's a lot of groups out there with different diagnoses.

Jen: 29:50

I like that. We have so much of that now and I'm right there with you, I think, even if it's not something that I'm living with. I like to learn about other people and I want to hear what other people are dealing with. I think it makes us more compassionate and and kind. But I but I, I don't know I'm also that weird person that just really loves learning about all the crazy things that we deal with out there.

Kait: 30:12

I think what I, what I feel like I really take away from other people. You know, listening to what they're going through is like the mental health aspect of it that's been huge. That like I'm not the only one struggling with this. You know there's other people out there that are, you know, fighting their way through and you know trying to advocate for themselves and and get better. And I'm not alone in that, no matter. You know what the diagnosis is. You know other people are going through it and we can help each other Most definitely.

Jen: 30:44

You know, so many people have all kinds of tips and tricks of how how they get through the day and things that they love and recommend, and so that's actually leading me into my next question for you is do you have any tips or tricks or things that you recommend to people that are on a similar journey, or even not a similar journey as yours?

Kait: 31:05

I mean, I guess I'll speak to one of the biggest things that have helped me is actually therapy, because, after going through nine surgeries, I mean and that wasn't necessarily the main reason I've gone to therapy, but like it's a huge part in it, like, like just all the stuff you have to go through to get healthy but therapy has has just helped me so much and learning how important it is to tap into my inner power and to keep going.

Kait: 31:38

And I think one of the biggest things for me was working on my feelings. You know, and understanding that, like this journey, there's times that are joyful, sure, like you know good moments that you have, but also like devastating ones, or ones that you're really angry. So, you know, learning how how to address those, those feelings, and that it's okay to express them. You know, and then also like learning to be present in the moment, but also learning from your past and looking forward to the future, you know, to keep like making things happen for your future. That's that's, you know, a big, big thing for me. So therapy, I would say like, has helped me get through.

Jen: 32:26

Definitely you do in person or do you do like a virtual one?

Kait: 32:31

I do an in-person. I actually do equine therapy.

Jen: 32:34

Okay so for people that are not familiar. Will you tell the listeners what that is?

Kait: 32:41

Sure. So where I go, we don't, we don't ride it's, it's horses working with horses. So we don't ride the horses but we can, you know, we can groom them and feed them and you know, walk with them and lean against them and breathe with them. It's so powerful. I mean I've tried different like I've tried like more traditional therapy before and it didn't quite work for me. But I mean even days where, like I haven't been able to work closely with the horses because of my condition, with all you know, the surgeries and stuff and recoveries, it's not always safe to be that close to them or whatever I mean. So even just like being there and looking at them is so magical and so healing for me. That's incredible.

Jen: 33:26

I've seen it. You know I watch a lot of shows and movies that have that kind of stuff in it, but I've never actually experienced it for myself. But it looks so amazing and relaxing.

Kait: 33:36

It is. It really is just being out there and, yeah, it's so soothing.

Jen: 33:41

It's so soothing, okay. So people get out there, look into it because yeah, and you know, and also just find what fits for you. I think as long as we're all looking and searching for that thing that works best for our lives, I think that's a good, important thing to think about.

Kait: 33:57

Definitely, and that like applies not only to to therapy itself, but like finding the right surgeon or finding the right physical therapist, like people that you know really understand. Your maybe not understand, but are knowledgeable about your condition and, yeah, are in your corner.

Jen: 34:16

What tips would you give, give I almost said get give to a person struggling with, a person like your first surgeon? What would you tell them?

Kait: 34:27

One do your research on the surgeon. Two trust your gut. And I knew when he told me that I was going to fail my test, I knew I didn't really trust him. So your, you know your first, your intuition, like just go with it, because you could end up having a botched surgery and then needing another one, and it's not pleasant. Yeah, so definitely research, trust your gut and like don't settle. Don't settle for a surgeon, Find one that really works for you. It's okay to like break up with them. Like you, you don't have to go through with it if you don't want to.

Jen: 35:08

Absolutely. I mean, we've all been through somebody like that in our lives and it's okay. It's okay to walk away. You know, even if you feel like you're deep down in it and about to have a surgery, it's okay to walk away. It's okay to just say nope, we're done, I'm breaking up with you. It's not me, it's you.

Kait: 35:27

I really wish I had the you know, and back then I didn't. I didn't have the knowledge and you know the experience that I do now. But I don't. I don't want to look back and regret it, but part of me does like, oh, I could have only had eight surgeries, right.

Jen: 35:47

But eight surgeries, right, right. But at the end of the day, you know, taught you, taught you to be who you are today, as I'm sure it's made you a much stronger person. Strength is in your body but, like strength in mind, you know what you deserve and how to get it now, which is a great thing it just sucks that you had to go through that.

Kait: 36:00

Yeah, it's yeah, but I feel like it's helped me also in my career, too, as an occupational therapist. You know, like I, I feel like now I'm a lot better at advocating for the people that I work with, if that makes sense. Because, you know, I've been at that point where, like, I've had to advocate so hard for myself and I wish that I had somebody to advocate for me. I definitely want to help the people that I work with be able to do that for themselves too.

Jen: 36:32

That's incredible and that's a really good point, and that's probably just made you that much better of an occupational therapist as well.

Kait: 36:38

I hope so. So I currently work with kids. I always thought I was going to be a pediatric OT, but now that I've been through my own health journey, I think at some point I'm not really sure when, but definitely after, you know, after I get my body sorted I really want to go back and work in the hospital. Or you know more, like working with physical disabilities, because now I understand. Like when I was first diagnosed, like way back when I was 23, I was doing my internship in a hospital and some of my patients would say you don't know how I feel. Like you're telling me to get up out of bed and I just had my hip replaced. Like you don't understand what it's like. Now I feel like I can go back and be like, yes, I do, I know, and let me tell you why. Like it's important to get up out of bed and to work on, you know, our meaningful activities.

Jen: 37:38

It's important. It's important that patients have someone like you. Thanks, yeah, important that patients have someone like you. Thanks, yeah, I think you are going to have a much bigger impact in their lives as somebody that doesn't understand at all, right, right.

Kait: 37:53

So yay, yay for you, proud of you, and yeah, let's keep talking about it, you know, keep talking about what our experiences are and not feel like we have to keep it all to ourselves. I, you know I want to. I do want to share with the people that I, that I, you know, will work with in the future, that they have gone through this too, and I'm curious how we can work together and I'm here for you.

Jen: 38:18

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story.

Kait: 38:28

Is that's awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. Is there anything that we have left out that?

Jen: 38:31

you want to bring up One thing. I'm actually I hope you don't mind this little plug I'm working on a memoir. Yay, that's awesome. Tell us more.

Kait: 38:36

Well it's, you know it's. It's about my, my journey. I talk a little bit about you know what it was like growing up and being a super athletic child and then what it was like to be diagnosed with these things that have taken away a lot of my meaningful activities, and just you know kind of where I'm at in my journey. And yeah, I'm super excited to have I think I have 10 chapters that are in the pre-final stages, so it's like they're really really close to being finished and I hope soon I will have a full book. That's incredible.

Kait: 39:14

That's incredible and it talks a lot about my alignment physically, because I lot a lot of surgeries to correct the alignment of my legs but also my mental and emotional alignment. So some of the things that I've learned in therapy and, yeah, I'm super excited.

Jen: 39:35

Ooh, I love it. Okay, keep us posted. We're going to share all about it once it's released. Thank you so much for giving us your time released. Thank you so much for giving us your time and my Spoonie sisters. Go check her out. You can find her on Instagram and, I'm assuming, facebook and maybe other places as well.

Kait: 39:58

I don't really use Facebook as much I do. Like if you have miserable malalignment syndrome or hip impingements, like I'm on those groups but and I try to be active on them, but like outside of those groups, I don't really do anything.

Jen: 40:07

But I'm most active on Instagram at K and then eight the number, and I will definitely add your links in the in the bio or not the bio, but show notes for listeners to check out. All right, Again, thank you for your time and my spoonie sisters. Until next time. Don't forget your spoon.