Jetty

📚 Jetty (Jett) Porter (they/them) is a 19-year-old student studying Marine Science and Biology at the University of Miami.

They were diagnosed with Congenital Hip Dysplasia at the age of 18 months – after their parents noticed they were struggling to walk and crawl. Despite a family history of Hip Dysplasia (on the mother’s side) and Perthes disease (on the father’s side), their diagnosis was missed at birth, which led to more severe symptoms.

🩺 At 18 months of age, Jetty underwent their first major surgery to reattach their dislocated left hip, which allowed them to walk. A year later, they underwent their second major surgery to remove the hardware from the first operation. Since that initial surgery sequence, their symptoms increased leading to avascular necrosis, arthritis, and severe pain.

They were also diagnosed with Legg-Calve Perthes disease at around 15 years old. They struggled to do simple activities such as standing for long periods of time and walking comfortably as their symptoms progressed.

At 16 years old – after years of surgical treatments, bracing, casting, physical therapy, and medication they underwent their eighth and final operation – which was a total hip replacement.

💚 Since then, Jetty has been doing well and has been able to resume the activities they love such as swimming and SCUBA diving. They still struggle with long-term symptoms and consequences of their conditions, namely nerve damage, sciatica, and muscle weakness, but are doing much better! They continue to work on strengthening at physical therapy and are optimistic and excited for the future.