ST MARY, Jamaica – Grade three teacher at the Port Maria Primary School, Viviene Ramsay is aiming to raise approximately US$10,000 needed for critical surgery to help her walk properly again.

Ramsay suffers from osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis that affects the joint.

Osteoarthritis (OA) occurs most frequently in the hands, hips, and knees. With OA, the cartilage within a joint begins to break down and the underlying bone begins to change. It can cause pain, stiffness, and swelling. In some cases it also causes reduced function and disability; some people are no longer able to do daily tasks or work.

Ramsay, who is also a poet, is highly active in school and community life; writing the poems and teaching them to her students.  However, in 2008, after the birth of her last child she started feeling pain in the pelvic area.

“I thought that it was childbirth, then it got worse and came with lower back pain,” she told OBSERVER ONLINE.

She recalled that her doctor sent her to do an x-ray for curvature of the spine but the result was negative. She said she remembered seeing on the x-ray report that an MRI was recommended. However, she said the doctor did not send her to do the MRI.

“He sent me home saying I need to lose weight. I kept going back to him and getting different pain medication that did not help and he said the same thing, lose weight. I said ‘doctor, it is more than the weight’. I went to another doctor who was surprised that I hadn’t done any MRI all these years,” Ramsay said.

When she finally did do the MRI in 2019 she was diagnosed with spinal Canal Stenosis, a narrowing of the spine. However, when she went to Cuba in July 2019 to have spinal surgery, she was informed by doctors in the communist country that it was her hip that was the problem, not the spine.

“This was confirmed when they did their own MRI and nothing was wrong with my spine, it was then that they discovered that both my hips were severely deteriorated, only a thin piece of bone was holding my hips together,” she said.

Ramsay began feeling more pain on the left side, so she did left hip replacement surgery in Cuba in 2019. She was to return in 2020 to do the right hip, but the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought travel to a standstill, derailed that plan.

Her situation took a turn for the worse when she did a scan that showed that she had severe osteoarthritis in the right hip joint pain and a cyst was discovered on the right hip.

Ramsay relies heavily on her 13-year-old and 15-year-old daughters and big sister for assistance.

“I am in constant pain and only this surgery can help me to regain my mobility,” she said. “Every day is a struggle. I can’t put on my underwear by myself, my kids have to assist me, I can’t bend to wash my feet or lotion my feet.

“I also have terrible lower back pain with the hip pain. Going into a taxi or a bus is also a challenge.  I have to get assistance,” she revealed.

Her classroom has to be on the ground floor as she is unable to climb the steps. So excruciating is the pain, she said she was brought to tears after walking some distance while doing business in Port Maria.

Through the pain, however, she remains vibrant and is a lead teacher with the Jamaica Teaching Council, a volunteer with Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, and an active Jamaica Teachers’ Association member.

 “When I was born I weighed less than three pounds, my mother went nine months, she was 41 and was sick from the day she conceived. I firmly believe that I was born for a reason. I survived all of that then for a reason,” she said.

The cost of the surgery, including airfare, hospital stay, meals and other expenses, amounts to US$13,000. She has already managed to raise US$3,000 and needs an additional US$10,000.

Persons wishing to assist can contact Viviene Ramsay at 876-563-3517.