Finding, refining and arranging interviews

For my project, I intend to interview at least two women with Trochlear dysplasia. I also plan to have an expert interview such as a doctor or a knee specialist to support my presented information, to gain more knowledge about Trochlear dysplasia and also to challenge and ask questions regarding the subject.

Over the course of 3 weeks, my interview options have slightly changed.

23rd October 2021

Initially, I aimed to conduct an interview with Betty Holden, a Trochlear dysplasia sufferer who had been experiencing dislocations and subluxations in both knees since 7 years old and had only recently been diagnosed at 56 years old. She had also commented on my Facebook post and is in fact the creator of the knee trochlear dysplasia group. Her story was shocking, especially regarding the amount of time she has waited to be treated and was something I was interested to know more about.

I also hoped to interview Hayley Hunter, another woman with Trochlear dysplasia who lives in Scotland and had undergone two knee surgeries in Germany. She had experienced several subluxations since she was in her early twenties that began from her hobbies of trail running and mountain biking which increased from frequently to daily. She then resulted in medical help from GP's, physiotherapists and osteopaths. After conversing for weeks via Facebook, we agreed to have a Zoom call to get to know each other more and speak prior to the interview. Hayley currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her story is really interesting and we relate to one another in terms of our condition quite well, so I am considering travelling to speak to her in person.

I've sent out emails and requests to doctors and knee specialists but as of now, I'm yet to receive any responses but I will continue searching. For charities and support groups, this could be utilised as receiving more information on this topic to expand my knowledge and understanding on a wider scale and/or could also be useful interviews.

25th October 2021

I've been finding it quite hard to find expert interviews for my topic and deciding whether they are prominent enough for my documentary. Essentially, I want to speak to a specialist or two who is fully informed about Trochlear dysplasia - that way my questions will hopefully be answered to my satisfaction.

At the moment, I've found two orthopaedic surgeons who also specialised in knee injuries. Mr Simon Barton, a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic surgeon, as well as Mr Peter Thompson. I've contacted them both and they had both agreed to speak over the phone if I wished to do so.

26th - 28th October

After conversing with Hayley Hunter, she recommended that I speak to Claire Robertson, known as Claire Patella, who is a knee and patellofemoral specialist based in London. I've researched and read about her and her work and eventually contacted Claire to arrange an interview with her.

Following this, I've found a few women via Instagram who also have Trochlear dysplasia and found the variety of experiences and stories really useful. Many have had much harder times than myself. From Instagram, I came across Lily who was diagnosed at 11 years old and was also born with the deformity. We conversed about our stories, similarities and differences and ups and downs throughout our journey. Through this, we have arranged to meet and talk more.

During a conversation with Lily, she suggested I contact Dr Lars Blond, who is a chief orthopaedic surgeon with a subspecialty practice with knees, stating he is one of the best knee specialists regarding Trochlear dysplasia in the UK. I've now contacted Dr Lars Blond and scheduled an interview.

1st November

Updated list of interviews | Photo by me

After gathering all my six options of interviewees and briefly speaking to a few, I decided to refine my amount to 3 and conduct interviews with Hayley Hunter where I will be travelling to Scotland, Lily where I will be travelling to London, Claire Robertson who is also in London and Dr Lars Blond via Zoom. I may only need one specialist interview, however Dr Lars Blond is based in Denmark so I thought to conduct a Zoom interview and keep this for any circumstance, whereas Claire Robertson is based in London where I can conduct the interview face to face.

I'm aware that these could change once again, but hopefully not drastically.