Hi, my name is Andy, the fortunate man who got to marry Robyn back in 2002. At the start of 2022, Robyn began to get pain in the right side of her body. By August, she was in such pain that she was unable to continue working, as it was too painful to walk, sit or even lay down comfortably. We saw many specialists, but they all ran into the same wall where the symptoms didn't add up to anything that they were familiar with. She saw pain specialists, neuro-surgeons, orthodpaedic surgeons, chiropractors and many physio-therapists but things continued to go backwards, not forwards. Eventually it was figured out that her hip was one of the sources of pain and in June 2024, she had surgery to repair a hip labral tear and ligament teres tear.

We self-funded this because the private health insurance wouldn't kick in for another 4 months and the pain was too severe to wait. During this also, as New Zealand citizens living in Australia, we were not eligible for social security payments to help with Robyn not working or to assist with medical and care support costs. The surgery helped to fix the hip pain and she seemed to be improving, but then in November the lower back pain became very intense and she hasn't yet recovered. She has not been able to walk or sit since then and the pain has been out of control. A spine surgeon has admitted her to a Sydney hospital where she is receiving more scans and investigation by specialist doctors and pain specialists. Our bank summary shows that we spent $22,000 in medical and health costs in 2024. That doesn't include the cost of not working and also other things such as travel costs to Newcastle and Sydney, and my accomodation to stay near Robyn, etc.

This has been a big burden on our family and we are so very grateful for the way that friends and community have helped with prayers, meals and visits. If you are in a position to do so and are willing to help provide some support financially, this too would be most gratefully received. Thank you.