Page 22 - Possible Magazine - Issue 8

LIFE IS AN
ADVENTURE
For many, the idea that amputation might be the key to a life of comfort may be hard to comprehend. For Just Better Care customer, David, this was a reality. With positivity and gratitude, he reflects on the experience.
Almost two years ago, David Lachlan struggled under the weight of a condition that was so agonising, even sleeping was difficult. Getting out and about was impossible. Adding to his suffering, this life was a stark contrast to his previous life of exploration and adventure.
David was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at 20 years old. For many, 20 is the age at which freedom becomes a lived reality and with it, a chance to enjoy all that life offers. With his diagnosis, David saw both the world at his feet, but a very short window in which to travel across it.
“It forced me to ask myself, ‘what do I want out of my life’?” he says. “Travel was the answer.”
A former Australia Postman, it’s no surprise that roaming came naturally. David launched himself upon the world.
He adventured through South America, visiting friends and wholly embracing Latin American culture. He learned Spanish, ate local food among the smells of roasting maize in the street markets of Bolivia, and danced the tango in Argentina. Backpack on and boots laced, in Peru he explored the Andes, with its
mountain plateaus, soaring condors and watchful llamas.
More expeditions took him to the turquoise atolls of the South Pacific and the salty surf of Hawaii. He traversed Australia too, always and endlessly inspired by nature and culture.
In Thailand, and the tropics, he picked up the languages and can still speak and read Thai, today. We are impressed. “Kob-khun krab (thank you),” he says.
“The world is a big place and I knew there were many things to be seen and experienced,” he says. “At that young age, I needed to get out and see everything that excited me, while I could.”
Many years later, approaching his sixth decade, many years later, David was holed up in Sydney. His arthritis was rapidly advancing. Living alone and unaware of options for support, he was living in a state of constant pain and anxiety.
“Now that you know my story, you can imagine that was a really tough time,” he explains. “A real low point.”
With no end in sight to the constant pain in his left leg, and almost two years in and out of hospital, doctors suggested
amputation. He agreed.
That operation gave David
immediate relief from a life of pain that had been growing steadily worse for years. A feeling of ultimate freedom, he explains.
“I have an extreme comparison of what it is like to live with and without pain. Arthritis taught me how unbearable being alive can be,” he says.
“Now I’ve recovered, I can appreciate how incredibly fortunate I am to be living a life that isn’t defined by pain.”
While in hospital for his amputation, David was introduced to Just Better Care Northern Beaches and met the people who would become his Support Professionals. They originally made daily visits to his home in Killarney Heights, but David was determined to recover and regain his mobility. Now, they now drop by just a few times a week to help around the house and take him to appointments.
“We get on extremely, extremely well,” he says. “They really know me, and we’ve built up great friendships. We even go out for lunch with my nieces and nephews.”
22 — JUST BETTER CARE
POSSIBLE