Kiwi seeks cure for rare ‘slipping rib’

It started with a sharp pain while exercising. Every day in the two years since has since been agony for Jayne L’Amour.

She has to take three types of medication to dull the pain.

Now, the 40-year-old former dancer and fitness instructor will fork out tens of thousands of dollars for life-changing surgery in the United States for her rare condition, known as slipping rib syndrome.

Slipping rib syndrome occurs when the cartilage on a person’s lower ribs slips and moves, leading to pain in their chest or upper abdomen.

It is so rare it took L’Amour

11⁄ years to get a diagnosis.

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‘‘I got lots of tests and scans and X-rays and things – they all came back normal,’’ she said.

It was not until she went to a hip specialist that she got a diagnosis. Meanwhile, she has not been able to do the work she loves. ‘‘Before this I was a dancer, I used to be in shows and teach dancing, teach fitness classes, I used to do martial arts.

‘‘Now I can’t do anything, I can’t even sit for very long,’’ she said.

The Lower Hutt woman is heading to The United Hospital Centre in Bridgeport, West Virginia, for surgery, and will spend a month in the states. The options in New Zealand include removing ribs but a pioneer surgeon in the US has worked out a way to stabilise them.

And even a global pandemic won’t stop L’Amour.

‘‘I can’t wait until the coronavirus crisis is over because it could be a long time and I can’t wait that long,’’ she said.

‘‘It is just getting unbearable.’’ L’Amour is raising money for the travel and surgery through a Givealittle page, as well as holding a performance night.

But she also wants to raise awareness of the rare condition.

‘‘I can see how easy it would be for people to get into a hole of depression over this,’’ she said.

After the surgery, the motherof-three is most looking forward to