{"id":8826,"date":"2017-10-30T22:48:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T22:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/uncategorized\/roberts-self-motivation-better-health-one-step-time"},"modified":"2017-10-30T22:48:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T22:48:58","slug":"roberts-self-motivation-better-health-one-step-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/news\/roberts-self-motivation-better-health-one-step-time","title":{"rendered":"Robert\u2019s self-motivation for better health, one step at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert\u2019s self-motivation for better health, one step at a time<\/h1>\n
\"Robert

Clinical Nurse Brett Cooper and Registered Nurse Neetu Thakkar at the Renal Department at RBWH with patient Robert Jacobs who suffered a life changing stroke at 45 years of age.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Robert Jacobs woke up in hospital after suffering a stroke, he couldn\u2019t move his body, but could faintly hear the doctor asking \u2018if you can hear me, please blink\u2019. All Robert could move was his eyes; every part of his body was paralysed.<\/p>\n

Suffering a stroke at just 45 years old was a turning point in Robert\u2019s life. He had to learn how to walk again, how to hold a cup, how to be himself again after such a dramatic change.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know I was a hard head growing up. I\u2019ve always had high blood pressure and when my doctor warned me at a young age I could suffer a heart attack or stroke, I didn\u2019t listen,\u201d Robert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had two strokes and a heart attack and now due to my kidney disease I will be on dialysis for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert, who is now 58, is a proud Wakka Wakka man from Cherbourg. He has fond memories of playing A grade football, boxing, swimming and running the 800 metres at school with ease.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just like everyone else, fit and healthy. But I found myself trapped in my community, drinking and smoking with mates,\u201d Robert said. \u201cI only have myself to blame, if I took my blood pressure medication and listened to the doctor all those years ago, I wouldn\u2019t be here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert has been attending The Royal Brisbane and Women\u2019s Hospital (RBWH) for over a year now, visiting the dialysis unit three days a week, for five hours each time to manage his kidney disease.<\/p>\n

His condition has dramatically improved.\u00a0 He went from monthly visits with the doctor, to now only seeing him every six months. He has learned how to walk again and is attending the gym twice a week as part of the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health \u2018Work it Out\u2019 program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went from being able to just take a few steps to the wall, now to being able to walk to my gym classes. I\u2019ve progressed from my scooter, to walker and now a walking stick. I\u2019ve improved a lot,\u201d Robert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also quit drinking and smoking since my stroke. Many of my old friends still continue to drink and smoke after a stroke, I tell them to look at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert said the RBWH hospital staff and Indigenous liaison services had helped with his recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cVisiting the RBWH has become a routine for me and we are all like family,\u201d Robert said. \u201cThe nursing staff are good here. We have a good laugh and joke each time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Robert Jacobs woke up in hospital after suffering a stroke, he couldn\u2019t move his body, but could faintly hear the doctor asking \u2018if you can hear me, please blink\u2019. All Robert could move was his eyes; every part of his body was paralysed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[350],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8828,"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826\/revisions\/8828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/rbwh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}