WEBVTT - Disability Advocacy with Lisa Cox 0:00:05.921 --> 0:00:07.281 Apoge Production. 0:00:11.041 --> 0:00:14.441 Hi, my name's beck Woodbine and welcome to Tenderness for Nurses. 0:00:15.041 --> 0:00:18.841 I'm grateful for the person that I have the opportunity 0:00:18.881 --> 0:00:19.241 to be. 0:00:19.961 --> 0:00:23.721 So I hit it and parked it for Nelly four years. 0:00:24.121 --> 0:00:26.361 We always have free will, We always get to choose. 0:00:26.481 --> 0:00:28.121 We are autonomous. 0:00:28.401 --> 0:00:30.721 Hi everyone, thank you for tuning back into ten and 0:00:30.801 --> 0:00:35.361 Ess for Nurses. Well, it's the last episode of twenty 0:00:35.441 --> 0:00:38.841 twenty four and we have the amazing Lisa Cox joining 0:00:38.921 --> 0:00:42.561 us today to have a chat and I'm very excited 0:00:42.601 --> 0:00:47.520 to share her story with you all, which is quite remarkable. 0:00:48.161 --> 0:00:50.801 But before we get underway, I just want to say 0:00:50.921 --> 0:00:55.601 a really huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone for your support. 0:00:56.121 --> 0:01:00.321 The podcast is just tripled in size and I can't 0:01:00.601 --> 0:01:03.121 even comprehend it because in season one I just was 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.441 hoping that one person would listen to it, and here 0:01:05.481 --> 0:01:08.921 we are now with thousands all over the world listening 0:01:08.921 --> 0:01:13.160 to the podcast, your support, sharing the podcast with friends 0:01:13.161 --> 0:01:16.081 and colleagues and listening. I cannot tell you how much 0:01:16.121 --> 0:01:19.840 that means to me. The idea of the podcast initially 0:01:20.041 --> 0:01:26.281 was just to help people show tenderness to themselves and 0:01:26.321 --> 0:01:29.801 to each other, and through the knowledge and vulnerability of 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:33.521 the stories that have been shared by my guests. The 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.161 feedback has been that people are showing kindness to themselves 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.961 and to each other, and you're learning to just give 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:43.401 yourself a little bit of space and be gentle with yourself. 0:01:43.441 --> 0:01:47.721 And for that, I humbly and gratefully say thank you 0:01:47.761 --> 0:01:50.441 to all my guests who have given up their time 0:01:51.081 --> 0:01:53.961 to come and chat and share their information and knowledge 0:01:54.001 --> 0:01:59.001 with you all. So please have a safe and wonderful Christmas. 0:01:59.361 --> 0:02:05.600 Don't forget to share, review like or don't like. It's 0:02:05.961 --> 0:02:10.201 each their own. But the idea of this podcast is 0:02:11.121 --> 0:02:15.321 to be kind to each other and ourselves, and I'm 0:02:15.361 --> 0:02:18.041 excited to let you know there's some pretty big things 0:02:18.041 --> 0:02:23.241 happening next year, so stay tuned. So now over to Lisa. 0:02:23.561 --> 0:02:25.280 Thank you so much for coming in. 0:02:25.921 --> 0:02:28.201 Thank you very much for having me. It really is 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:28.960 great to be here. 0:02:29.441 --> 0:02:32.641 We actually ran into we live in the same precinct, 0:02:32.881 --> 0:02:36.881 and I ran into Lisa quite probably eighteen months ago, 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.001 quite early in the morning, and you were coming back 0:02:40.041 --> 0:02:43.520 from training, and we had a bit of a chat 0:02:43.561 --> 0:02:48.121 and talked about the dogs or whatever, and then a 0:02:48.201 --> 0:02:53.201 mutual friend of ours, Carney, mentioned your name and showed 0:02:53.201 --> 0:02:55.881 me a photo. I was like, hang on, I know 0:02:56.001 --> 0:02:58.521 that person. She lives where I live. And then of 0:02:58.561 --> 0:03:00.520 course we ran into each other and I had to 0:03:00.601 --> 0:03:02.361 hit you up to come and speak on the podcast 0:03:02.441 --> 0:03:08.841 because you are amazing advocate for disabilities. So do you 0:03:08.841 --> 0:03:11.161 want to tell us a little bit about your journey? 0:03:11.881 --> 0:03:15.201 Yeah? Sure, And it has been been a journey for 0:03:15.641 --> 0:03:17.721 whatever a better word. And I suppose it all started 0:03:17.721 --> 0:03:22.400 twenty years ago when I was at Melbourne Port my morning, 0:03:22.601 --> 0:03:25.241 flying home to see my family doing what a lot 0:03:25.281 --> 0:03:28.121 of people at the age of twenty four do, climbing 0:03:28.161 --> 0:03:31.921 corporate ladder and I'd been to UNI loving life and 0:03:32.121 --> 0:03:35.121 I had a brain hemorrhage at Melbourne Airport, at the airport. 0:03:35.161 --> 0:03:39.281 At the airport, I don't remember that time, but all 0:03:39.361 --> 0:03:45.201 the accounts told my family apparently I was stuttering my words, 0:03:45.241 --> 0:03:47.761 they wouldn't let me onto the plane and then I collapsed. 0:03:48.481 --> 0:03:52.201 So I never made that flight, but spent the next 0:03:52.241 --> 0:03:55.361 three weeks in a coma, two months on life support, 0:03:55.401 --> 0:03:58.561 and over a year in hospital after that. So that 0:03:58.641 --> 0:04:03.561 first year in hospital was fun stuff and it was 0:04:03.321 --> 0:04:05.441 it was It was really really tough understand way, but 0:04:06.041 --> 0:04:08.681 I was a space cadet for the first few months, 0:04:08.761 --> 0:04:12.961 because I was on so much medication, my hands and 0:04:13.321 --> 0:04:17.481 hands and feet were quite literally rotting off, all turning gangerous. 0:04:17.481 --> 0:04:20.081 So my left leg, all of my right toes a 0:04:20.201 --> 0:04:23.401 night of my fingertips were appitated in the end from 0:04:23.481 --> 0:04:27.321 the medication. So the medication they put me on was 0:04:27.401 --> 0:04:29.440 brilliant because it saved my life. But it's a side 0:04:29.481 --> 0:04:33.320 effect that it took all the blood from my peripheries 0:04:33.641 --> 0:04:37.401 back to my vital organs, and so my nose turned 0:04:37.401 --> 0:04:38.801 back for a while. But I got to keep that, 0:04:38.801 --> 0:04:44.681 which is great. But as a result, I've got osteoarthritis 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:48.521 everywhere all my joints. Is a normal thing as well 0:04:48.601 --> 0:04:52.641 that it can cause joint issues. I've had one hip replacement, 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:55.601 so a stroking heat replacement, all the things that happened 0:04:55.641 --> 0:04:59.601 to old ladies. It was hard to four and obviously 0:04:59.641 --> 0:05:02.161 my permanent brain injury now from the stroke, my speech 0:05:02.161 --> 0:05:04.721 has been affected. I'm over twenty five percent blind and 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.481 have things like epilepsy, kind of pain, chronic fatigue and 0:05:08.921 --> 0:05:12.361 all those sorts of thanks of the usual side effects 0:05:12.361 --> 0:05:13.720 of a brain injury. 0:05:15.561 --> 0:05:20.121 Was the brain injury? Did they or could they explain 0:05:20.401 --> 0:05:23.401 why it happened so spontaneously, and why are someone so young? 0:05:24.161 --> 0:05:27.440 So I was a fit, healthy twenty four year old, 0:05:27.481 --> 0:05:29.081 going to the gym a few times a week, eating 0:05:29.081 --> 0:05:33.321 all my vegetables, that sort of stuff. Yeah, didn't have 0:05:33.361 --> 0:05:36.801 any of the usual I suppose lifestyle factors that were 0:05:37.481 --> 0:05:39.801 meaning someone's more likely to have a stroke. But they 0:05:39.921 --> 0:05:41.841 did a lot of tests until my family that it 0:05:41.961 --> 0:05:45.921 was a streptogogust a virus. And one of the specialists 0:05:45.961 --> 0:05:49.241 said to quote him, bloody bad luck. So we still 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.241 don't notice this day where I picked that up. Could 0:05:51.241 --> 0:05:53.681 have been the supermarket, It could have been anywhere. 0:05:53.801 --> 0:05:54.840 It can be anywhere. 0:05:55.001 --> 0:05:59.960 Yeah, so that's what caused the brain hemorrhage, and yeah. 0:05:59.561 --> 0:06:03.561 And the rest is history. Exactly how did you find 0:06:03.721 --> 0:06:08.961 that time in the hospital? I mean, I can only 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:12.760 imagine you were really once you got your bearings that 0:06:12.841 --> 0:06:18.321 you're really angry and upset and worried about the future. 0:06:18.681 --> 0:06:20.841 How did you cope with that? How did your family 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:21.441 cope with that? 0:06:23.561 --> 0:06:26.961 My family blessed them that for the first couple of months. 0:06:27.481 --> 0:06:29.561 I can't remember any of it before or after the 0:06:29.601 --> 0:06:32.801 brain hemorrhage, and I was completely untworry what was going 0:06:32.841 --> 0:06:36.681 on around. They remembered every minute. Unfortunately they got to 0:06:36.761 --> 0:06:38.921 call because I was in Melbourne, they were in Brisbane. 0:06:39.361 --> 0:06:42.561 They got to call that night to say this has happened. 0:06:42.681 --> 0:06:44.321 Come to Melbourne. We don't think at least it will 0:06:44.361 --> 0:06:47.400 be alive. In the morning they arrived, obviously it was 0:06:48.081 --> 0:06:51.400 the head of the largest intensive KENE in the Southern Hemisphere, 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:55.241 said she's my father, sixth person here. You may have 0:06:55.241 --> 0:06:57.401 to turn off her life support if things don't improve. 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:00.121 So for two months they sort of rock up to 0:07:00.161 --> 0:07:02.961 the hospital every morning, not sure if I'd be dead 0:07:03.041 --> 0:07:07.041 or alive. And to this day I feel terrible for them, 0:07:07.681 --> 0:07:09.841 even though some of my fault, I still feel like 0:07:09.961 --> 0:07:13.361 it is and I was just off with the fairies 0:07:13.361 --> 0:07:17.921 in any comera and yeah, yeah, so they have been 0:07:18.201 --> 0:07:21.281 my biggest support through all of this, absolutely wonderful. And 0:07:21.321 --> 0:07:24.241 when I came under the coma, I was many backed 0:07:24.361 --> 0:07:29.201 to Brisbane and then spent the remaining months in hospital 0:07:29.241 --> 0:07:31.721 and then depending on what surgery I needed, what had 0:07:31.721 --> 0:07:34.681 to be cut off for something that'd taken me to 0:07:35.001 --> 0:07:37.961 a hospital for a few weeks or another hospital, but 0:07:38.841 --> 0:07:42.681 they drip fed me information In terms of day one, 0:07:42.721 --> 0:07:46.441 they didn't say, here's what happened. Yeah, but slowly, bit surely, 0:07:46.481 --> 0:07:48.681 I'm like, oh, so that happened, and that happened. And 0:07:48.721 --> 0:07:52.441 then in the very very beginning, because I've been lying 0:07:52.921 --> 0:07:56.921 flat for two months, I didn't have any course stability. 0:07:57.001 --> 0:07:59.761 It's still pretty weak today. But I couldn't sit up 0:07:59.801 --> 0:08:03.801 and have a look around and see what was happening. 0:08:03.801 --> 0:08:06.921 I just knew that every day that the nurses would 0:08:06.961 --> 0:08:09.961 be doing something to one of my feet, and only 0:08:09.961 --> 0:08:15.081 found out months later that it's because my feet had 0:08:15.121 --> 0:08:18.481 turned gangerous of one of them in particular, and it 0:08:18.601 --> 0:08:21.001 was going to have to be amputated. So they did 0:08:21.041 --> 0:08:24.441 tell me that month before, and I cried my eyes. 0:08:24.521 --> 0:08:26.681 That was really upset, but woke up the next morning 0:08:26.801 --> 0:08:30.201 was like I'm completely gotten what And so they started 0:08:30.241 --> 0:08:32.721 not to tell me day after day of today it 0:08:32.761 --> 0:08:36.681 would be like ground hole day. Basically is that a 0:08:36.681 --> 0:08:39.401 blessing or is it a curse? I was kind of 0:08:39.441 --> 0:08:43.481 glad that they didn't because I just wasn't. I wasn't 0:08:43.561 --> 0:08:47.881 remembering anything, and when they did tell me, I did remember, 0:08:48.441 --> 0:08:51.161 And the next morning I woke up and swollen eyes 0:08:51.201 --> 0:08:54.881 and still remembered I specifically remember our nurse walking into 0:08:54.921 --> 0:08:56.681 the room just dumping a bit of brushes on my 0:08:56.721 --> 0:09:01.921 bed about prostatic limbs. I'm like, oh it, I was 0:09:02.681 --> 0:09:05.201 mentally not prepared, so there was that was a bit 0:09:05.201 --> 0:09:08.321 of a shock. And then that. 0:09:08.361 --> 0:09:10.841 Wasn't particularly kind to do it that way. 0:09:11.081 --> 0:09:16.041 Yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't, but I suppose they they 0:09:16.161 --> 0:09:19.401 didn't know. They didn't know that, and they certainly meant 0:09:19.401 --> 0:09:25.241 no malice, and then I were incredible. But and this 0:09:25.921 --> 0:09:28.521 is not a reflection of the healthcare system or anything, 0:09:28.521 --> 0:09:34.961 because it's brilliant. But I've spoken and written before about 0:09:35.001 --> 0:09:39.561 how my perceptions of what disability would look like had 0:09:39.721 --> 0:09:44.081 in part been shaped by the staff who would walk 0:09:44.121 --> 0:09:46.881 into my room go you're going to be disabled for 0:09:46.921 --> 0:09:49.441 the rest of your life, like it was a death sentence. 0:09:49.521 --> 0:09:53.881 And I was already upset because I later realized that 0:09:53.961 --> 0:09:55.921 was because I had only twenty four years worth of 0:09:56.001 --> 0:09:59.561 media stereotypes in my head. But on top of that, 0:09:59.801 --> 0:10:03.161 had everyone around me talking like, we're all about to 0:10:03.201 --> 0:10:06.161 go to a funeral because I was going to be disabled. 0:10:06.881 --> 0:10:09.121 But that's not to say it should have been let's 0:10:09.201 --> 0:10:13.921 celebrate sunshine and raises at all. But it's a how do. 0:10:13.881 --> 0:10:16.601 You find the medium, like I suppose, how do you 0:10:16.641 --> 0:10:21.481 find the sweet spot in that conversation. 0:10:21.801 --> 0:10:25.481 Yeah, it's it's really really hard, and I certainly can't 0:10:25.641 --> 0:10:28.201 can't speak for everyone, but that was just one thing 0:10:28.201 --> 0:10:31.561 I noticed that everyone around and was like, Oh, you 0:10:31.681 --> 0:10:34.201 got to be disabled. That's that's terrible. It's the worst 0:10:34.241 --> 0:10:37.041 thing that can possibly happen. And I don't want to 0:10:37.081 --> 0:10:42.001 minimize how horrible it was and and everything like that, 0:10:42.081 --> 0:10:46.761 but it's certainly, yeah, helped, It's certainly shaped a lot 0:10:46.841 --> 0:10:48.601 of shape my mood, and. 0:10:49.961 --> 0:10:52.681 I think it shaped your recovery when you had that 0:10:52.721 --> 0:10:57.121 mindset and people, you know, stuff that was saying you're 0:10:57.201 --> 0:11:04.601 now handicapped initially. Do you think it changed how you 0:11:04.641 --> 0:11:06.681 recover it or perceived yourself. 0:11:07.241 --> 0:11:09.961 That's a really good point. And I'm going to refer 0:11:10.041 --> 0:11:13.121 to some work coming at the moment with some students 0:11:13.161 --> 0:11:19.041 around rehabilitation and doing some consumer advisory work, and they're 0:11:19.041 --> 0:11:23.401 all physios and then talking about key outcomes and the 0:11:23.441 --> 0:11:26.961 metrics of that as are when the patient can walk again. 0:11:27.481 --> 0:11:29.241 And I sort of fly to them in one of 0:11:29.281 --> 0:11:32.681 the meetings that while so many people want to walk, 0:11:33.601 --> 0:11:39.041 you can't. It's not either possible for everyone or not 0:11:39.521 --> 0:11:42.401 realistic for everyone, and just by having that as the 0:11:42.441 --> 0:11:46.321 only outcome. I originally thought coming out of hospital that 0:11:46.601 --> 0:11:49.921 I have to walk again because that's the only way 0:11:50.001 --> 0:11:52.881 to recover. And now twenty years on, I've been a 0:11:52.921 --> 0:11:55.801 full time wheelchair years that for years and years and years, 0:11:55.841 --> 0:11:59.241 and travel the world and go to the gym. It 0:11:59.481 --> 0:12:02.401 certainly gives me more freedom and independence than. 0:12:02.721 --> 0:12:05.001 Was lying in the bed. 0:12:05.401 --> 0:12:08.241 Yeah, then lying in the bed, and then was explained 0:12:08.241 --> 0:12:10.561 to me by staff. 0:12:11.961 --> 0:12:15.041 So I just want to explain to you guys, Lisa 0:12:15.281 --> 0:12:23.441 is absolutely stunning woman, very eloquent. Even though the brain 0:12:23.521 --> 0:12:26.681 hemorrhage has impacted a little bit of her language, you 0:12:26.721 --> 0:12:31.001 can tell highly educated, thoughtful in her choice of words, 0:12:32.001 --> 0:12:38.441 dresses beautifully you know. Yes, there have been some imputations 0:12:38.441 --> 0:12:45.961 to fingers and to your feet, toes and nine fingertips, 0:12:47.201 --> 0:12:53.281 but she's super, super independent, which I think is pretty 0:12:53.321 --> 0:12:56.441 remarkable considering where you've come from. 0:12:57.441 --> 0:12:58.241 Thank you. 0:12:58.241 --> 0:13:01.481 You could have made a choice. I suppose to not 0:13:01.521 --> 0:13:05.241 be where you are now as well. 0:13:05.481 --> 0:13:09.681 Yeah, it would be very easy for me to not 0:13:10.161 --> 0:13:12.041 decide to do a lot of things I do, but 0:13:13.801 --> 0:13:17.361 I do them because I'm so grateful to be able 0:13:17.441 --> 0:13:20.921 to even though I don't drive a walk that doesn't matter. 0:13:21.001 --> 0:13:23.041 I can't do those things, but I still can do 0:13:23.401 --> 0:13:26.521 a hell of a lot of stuff, So I have 0:13:26.561 --> 0:13:28.681 a lot of gratitude for that. If my brain hemorrhage 0:13:28.721 --> 0:13:31.841 had been an inch up, down, left or right, we 0:13:31.881 --> 0:13:35.161 wouldn't be having this conversation today. I wouldn't have written 0:13:35.161 --> 0:13:37.321 books on his head, talk me doing my PhD, all 0:13:37.321 --> 0:13:39.161 those sorts of things. This wouldn't be happening. 0:13:39.401 --> 0:13:41.081 Okay, so tell us about your PhD. 0:13:42.841 --> 0:13:46.321 There's not a lot to say at the moment. At 0:13:46.321 --> 0:13:50.281 the moment, I'm really excited about it. But talk to 0:13:50.281 --> 0:13:52.041 me in a couple of years and there might be 0:13:52.081 --> 0:13:56.241 another story. But it's what I've been on my soapbooks 0:13:56.241 --> 0:13:59.041 about for many, many years, which is the representation of 0:13:59.041 --> 0:14:04.161 people with disability impacts our employment upcomes. So on a 0:14:04.201 --> 0:14:06.841 really big scale, it would be how disability in all 0:14:06.881 --> 0:14:12.121 forms of popular culture influences social arte comes like healthcare, employment, education. 0:14:12.841 --> 0:14:15.041 But to make that really specific and narrow it down, 0:14:15.121 --> 0:14:16.801 like you have to do for a PhD, it's just 0:14:17.401 --> 0:14:22.001 advertising and employment. Okay, So what was your background before 0:14:22.841 --> 0:14:25.281 you were My background wasn't advertising. So I was a 0:14:25.281 --> 0:14:28.681 copywriter and so all the as you see on TV, 0:14:28.721 --> 0:14:31.601 I'd write the scripts for those the print ads, I'd 0:14:32.001 --> 0:14:34.161 the headline, all the words. 0:14:34.881 --> 0:14:41.041 You now go into hospitals and talk about disabilities and 0:14:41.121 --> 0:14:46.321 management of disabilities to I'm assuming nurses as well as physios. 0:14:46.881 --> 0:14:49.001 What are the key points you like to talk about. 0:14:49.521 --> 0:14:53.081 I do a lot of work with the Queensland Collaborative 0:14:54.441 --> 0:14:57.281 around press injury prevention because I had three press injuries, 0:14:57.361 --> 0:15:01.921 including a Stage four in my sacram and often I'll 0:15:02.001 --> 0:15:05.921 speak at educational seminars or sometimes medical con differenstans were 0:15:06.641 --> 0:15:09.881 I'm the only person in that room without a medical 0:15:09.881 --> 0:15:14.841 degree or any any qualifications, but I have lived years 0:15:14.841 --> 0:15:19.281 of experience, so you need both. On one's not superior 0:15:19.321 --> 0:15:24.241 to or another, you absolutely need both. So a few 0:15:24.241 --> 0:15:28.561 of the key takeaways from that is to understand the 0:15:28.601 --> 0:15:33.481 importance of family, friends, caress, whoever it is in support, 0:15:33.841 --> 0:15:36.961 the support crew or the I'm not sure what you 0:15:37.001 --> 0:15:37.401 call them. 0:15:37.281 --> 0:15:39.601 All the support people to come up and like are 0:15:39.641 --> 0:15:40.161 with you. 0:15:40.361 --> 0:15:42.521 Yes, yeah, but as part of the care team that's 0:15:42.521 --> 0:15:46.361 thrown something to say. So an example of that my dad. 0:15:46.601 --> 0:15:49.721 I was very fortunate. My parents have retired, so who 0:15:49.761 --> 0:15:53.081 was at me with me every day at the hospital 0:15:53.201 --> 0:15:56.001 and was very hands on in terms of if I 0:15:56.001 --> 0:15:58.601 had to lift my leg or with my arm, things 0:15:58.641 --> 0:16:01.041 that I couldn't do for myself in those first early months. 0:16:01.121 --> 0:16:07.201 But unfortunately, because he wasn't a doctor of surgeon, he 0:16:07.321 --> 0:16:11.081 was often overlooked in terms of how much he could 0:16:11.121 --> 0:16:13.281 offer and how much he could help because the nurses 0:16:13.321 --> 0:16:16.161 were run off their feet. They did an amazing job 0:16:16.201 --> 0:16:18.641 and they were they were so so busy. But if 0:16:18.641 --> 0:16:21.041 only they'd said to him, try a B and C 0:16:22.081 --> 0:16:25.721 and the pressure injuries, it will it will help a lot, 0:16:25.881 --> 0:16:30.081 but or could have been avoided potentially. Yeah, So those 0:16:30.441 --> 0:16:34.321 first two months on life support, one of my pressure 0:16:34.321 --> 0:16:37.321 injuries on the back of my head as well. Yeah, 0:16:37.481 --> 0:16:38.721 on the on the back of my head to have 0:16:38.761 --> 0:16:40.681 a bull spot which is so much on my head 0:16:40.721 --> 0:16:45.241 dresser remastering around the time, on my take and on 0:16:45.321 --> 0:16:48.241 my heel, on my remaining foot. 0:16:48.801 --> 0:16:51.601 When I went through and did my nursing training at PA, 0:16:51.801 --> 0:16:54.321 that was drilled into us. You know, every few hours 0:16:54.361 --> 0:16:56.521 we would turn our a couple of hours actually, we 0:16:56.561 --> 0:16:59.961 would turn our patients from one side to the other 0:17:00.081 --> 0:17:02.801 side back. When I and I did a lot of 0:17:02.881 --> 0:17:07.681 night duties. I would, you know, do a sponge bath, 0:17:07.761 --> 0:17:09.721 we'd check their back, that sort of thing. I mean, 0:17:09.721 --> 0:17:15.321 that was just nursing one oh one faus and before 0:17:15.441 --> 0:17:17.761 I set up my own clinic and I was still 0:17:17.801 --> 0:17:21.041 doing palliative care, I used to do night judy. It 0:17:21.241 --> 0:17:23.441 was when a hospital, but that now has been shut down, 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:25.641 and I used to wear with this an amazing nurse 0:17:25.721 --> 0:17:29.640 called Mary, and Mary and I would just get together. 0:17:29.681 --> 0:17:32.481 We'd have our trolley, we'd get our water, you know, 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:37.000 and we would do turns and washers on everybody. And 0:17:37.041 --> 0:17:39.641 there were tool us that used to run I think 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.561 it was a twenty two bed ward and the tools 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.001 would just go through and do everybody, just make sure 0:17:46.001 --> 0:17:51.041 everyone was done. But recently, well not recently, probably just 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:55.441 before COVID, I was in hospital in a private hospital, 0:17:55.681 --> 0:17:58.041 and that didn't even I didn't even get a post 0:17:58.120 --> 0:18:00.121 top sponge. I don't even know if that stuff even 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.840 happens anymore in hospitals because I haven't worked in a hospital. 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:06.281 But for me, it was so important to make sure 0:18:06.521 --> 0:18:10.121 and maybe it was the hospital training or how I 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.400 was trained, but it was so imperative to keep moving 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.161 that patient so that you didn't get a bed saw 0:18:16.561 --> 0:18:20.641 there still happened, and if they happened, you then manage them. 0:18:20.681 --> 0:18:25.161 But I don't know, do you find that that happens 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:27.640 when you're in hospital now? They don't do that well. 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:29.640 I suppose one of the other things I talk about. 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:32.880 I show photos of my hands on my feet quite 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:36.120 literally rotting off and I couldn't feel a thing. I 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:39.400 didn't know that my feet were gangrass and black and 0:18:39.441 --> 0:18:42.080 weeding because I was on so many painkillers. But that 0:18:43.241 --> 0:18:46.761 stage for my sacram how killed. I don't know if 0:18:46.761 --> 0:18:50.321 it worked its way through the painkillers. And my point 0:18:50.360 --> 0:18:52.121 when I present on this is that you may have 0:18:52.321 --> 0:18:56.161 a patient with really complex trauma and bit's falling off everywhere. 0:18:56.721 --> 0:18:59.881 That doesn't mean that a tiny little pressure injury somewhere 0:18:59.921 --> 0:19:05.760 on their sacrumd body anyway can't be the most intense 0:19:05.921 --> 0:19:09.001 pain that they're feeling. So pressure injuries are really really deceiving. 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:13.561 Just because they're not big and bleeding everywhere and discussing 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.840 doesn't mean that they're not the most intense pain. 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.880 I've fetured my sacred at the end of last year, 0:19:21.041 --> 0:19:24.561 and I have to tell you it was the most 0:19:24.721 --> 0:19:28.321 painful thing that has And I've had surgery and whatever, 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.400 the most painful thing I've ever done, like ever had happened. 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:35.801 I cannot tell you the pain and all the nerves 0:19:35.801 --> 0:19:38.561 that come out of that area, and you know that 0:19:39.521 --> 0:19:42.041 go to your bladder and your bow and your legs, 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:48.241 and so in my mind, I can absolutely understand that 0:19:48.241 --> 0:19:51.601 that must have been unbelievably painful for you. 0:19:51.681 --> 0:19:54.120 So agonizing, and that's you bring up a point that 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:57.720 all the nerves gong for. There's the assumption that pressure 0:19:57.761 --> 0:20:02.681 injuries disappear, and by that I mean it's not as 0:20:02.761 --> 0:20:05.680 red as it was, but there are still surfaces I 0:20:05.681 --> 0:20:10.481 can't sit on because it's so painful, and still still 0:20:10.561 --> 0:20:14.721 twining is on things in the gym at certain angles 0:20:14.761 --> 0:20:17.440 if I you know that, on that sacrament all that 0:20:17.521 --> 0:20:20.241 really hurts, and why not do that? So there's this 0:20:20.321 --> 0:20:23.441 assumption from staff that oh, just goes away, you'll get 0:20:23.441 --> 0:20:27.001 over it, it will heal, But those nerves don't. Now the 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:28.041 skin might. 0:20:28.761 --> 0:20:31.080 Yeah, I can hand on heart to you. I still 0:20:31.120 --> 0:20:34.201 have issues and mind was a fracture and I didn't 0:20:34.201 --> 0:20:37.600 break the skin, so I can't even comprehend if it 0:20:37.681 --> 0:20:41.400 was deep. You know what grade for yes in that area, 0:20:41.801 --> 0:20:43.801 which is a that's nasty. 0:20:44.120 --> 0:20:46.960 Yeah, there was bone unfortunately. 0:20:46.521 --> 0:20:50.200 So you know it just actually gives me goosebumps. 0:20:50.561 --> 0:20:53.960 Yeah. So every morning I'd get transferred by some lovely 0:20:54.041 --> 0:20:57.360 waters and put onto a shower trolley. Yeah, and I 0:20:57.481 --> 0:20:59.761 joke about it hosed down like a race horse. But 0:21:01.120 --> 0:21:05.041 and that absolutely just killed just just lying on that surface. 0:21:05.201 --> 0:21:07.761 But we soon worked out that putting it a gel 0:21:07.801 --> 0:21:12.600 cushion under one hip, yeah, that's all took. But that 0:21:12.801 --> 0:21:15.600 was an even even lying on the bed. Dad and I, 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.120 my eighty year old father, worked out that if we 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:22.961 scroll up a Queensland Health towel and shove that under 0:21:22.961 --> 0:21:26.080 one hip, then yeah. 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:27.240 So takes the pressure of it. 0:21:27.321 --> 0:21:28.921 Bit of trial and error on our part. 0:21:29.441 --> 0:21:31.760 I love it. I love this. Your dad was so innovative. 0:21:33.281 --> 0:21:37.881 So and what was the impact on your parents? 0:21:38.281 --> 0:21:40.240 Oh God, I can't speak for them, and I can 0:21:40.360 --> 0:21:47.281 only imagine that they were initially devastated because parents shouldn't 0:21:47.281 --> 0:21:51.721 have to bury their children and to have none of 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:54.360 the It's not like they were expecting something to happen 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:56.680 because I was the fit and healthy one like all 0:21:56.681 --> 0:21:59.720 of my brothers and sisters. And it really just just 0:21:59.801 --> 0:22:02.641 came out of the blue. But I can only guess 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:05.160 that that were just absolutely devastated. 0:22:05.201 --> 0:22:08.521 Moved back up here to Queensland. Were you able to 0:22:08.521 --> 0:22:11.480 get a great network of people to stay with you 0:22:11.521 --> 0:22:14.041 to help you, or did your parents take all that 0:22:14.120 --> 0:22:14.880 on themselves. 0:22:15.201 --> 0:22:18.640 My parents took that on. Initially I moved back home 0:22:18.681 --> 0:22:20.400 with mom and dad, which is just what every twenty 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:23.840 five year old wants to go. Yep. But they lived 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:26.640 in this two story brick house, so I didn't get 0:22:26.721 --> 0:22:30.041 upstairs for the first while, but just stayed down in 0:22:30.041 --> 0:22:32.880 one of the spare rooms and couldn't wait to get out, 0:22:32.921 --> 0:22:34.720 But at the same time was really grateful to be 0:22:34.801 --> 0:22:37.280 there because it was a roof of my head and 0:22:37.321 --> 0:22:39.561 someone to help me get back to it. But I 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:43.801 had to relearn on the basics. Initially in hospital, I 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:46.281 was just learning to sit up again and speak and 0:22:46.281 --> 0:22:50.080 brush my own teeth. But then moving home was doing 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:52.200 the basics like making a cup of coffee or a 0:22:52.241 --> 0:22:57.201 tea or something like that, until eventually I can move 0:22:57.201 --> 0:22:59.761 out and move out on my own, not too far 0:22:59.801 --> 0:23:03.561 from them, so they could still come visit and drive 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:06.041 me to appointments, which they doing a lot of in 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:06.561 the early that. 0:23:06.880 --> 0:23:08.920 Was that important for you to get your independence. 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:11.561 Yes, it was very very They used to call me 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:16.721 Miss Independent in the hospital because the nurses were beautiful 0:23:16.761 --> 0:23:18.400 and we're just you know, i'll help you, I'll do 0:23:18.441 --> 0:23:20.561 that for you, and like, no, I'm going to do 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:23.521