I was twelve years old when I first noticed that my right knee was swollen and painful. My GP referred me to an orthopaedic specialist, who aspirated my knee and sent the fluid off for analysis; a procedure that I was to endure regularly for many months! My leg was put in a full plaster cast and soon after I was admitted to hospital for a tissue biopsy. I spent the next nine months having my knee aspirated weekly, and finally my parents were told that I had septic arthritis.

I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in October 2009. For years I have had problems with swollen joints, I visited my doctor several times explaining the joint that was swollen at that point. I went through several blood tests and x-rays but nothing was pin-pointed and so the doctors did nothing.