I highly recommend a physiotherapist if you haven’t already.

I had an issue years ago where my doctor couldn’t figure out my knee pain/clicking but physio got it. He taught me how to correct for my extremely tight IT band that was pulling everything out of alignment and causing damage. Fortunately that meant a foam roller and stretching rather than surgery.

hard to follow the article with only a short blurb… it starts by saying he was happy to pay for the privilege but is now complaining of it costing too much?

I think a one month extension costs $470 NZD, but I can’t tell what longer term residency permits cost (it’s probably a combination of multiple fees)

https://mfai.gov.ck/cook-islands-ministry-foreign-affairs-and-immigration-schedule-fees