{"id":11093,"date":"2026-09-17T14:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T04:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/?page_id=11093"},"modified":"2026-09-17T14:50:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T04:50:02","slug":"consumer-stories-andrea","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/patients-visitors\/consumer-stories-andrea","title":{"rendered":"Consumer stories: Andrea"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:89.44rem;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_3_4 3_4 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:75%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:2.56%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:2.56%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-one\"><h1 class=\"fusion-title-heading title-heading-left\" style=\"margin:0;\">Consumer stories: Andrea<\/h1><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><div class=\"qld__video-wrapper\"><div class=\"qld__video-embed\"><div style=\"padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1222591418?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"Consumer story - Andrea\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><div class=\"qld__video-meta\"><div class=\"qld__video-meta-caption\">Andrea shares her story of late diagnosis of mild ataxic cerebral palsy<\/div><div class=\"qld__video-meta-duration\"><div class=\"qld__video-meta-duration-clock\"><i class=\"fal fa-clock\"><\/i><\/div><div class=\"qld__video-meta-duration-text\">Duration: 3:15<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"qld__video-transcript\"> <div class=\"qld__video-transcript-accordion\"><button class=\"qld__video-transcript-title qld__video-accordion-closed\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><svg class=\"qld__video-file-icon\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 384 512\"><path d=\"M369.9 97.9L286 14C277 5 264.8-.1 252.1-.1H48C21.5 0 0 21.5 0 48v416c0 26.5 21.5 48 48 48h288c26.5 0 48-21.5 48-48V131.9c0-12.7-5.1-25-14.1-34zm-22.6 22.7c2.1 2.1 3.5 4.6 4.2 7.4H256V32.5c2.8.7 5.3 2.1 7.4 4.2l83.9 83.9zM336 480H48c-8.8 0-16-7.2-16-16V48c0-8.8 7.2-16 16-16h176v104c0 13.3 10.7 24 24 24h104v304c0 8.8-7.2 16-16 16zm-48-244v8c0 6.6-5.4 12-12 12H108c-6.6 0-12-5.4-12-12v-8c0-6.6 5.4-12 12-12h168c6.6 0 12 5.4 12 12zm0 64v8c0 6.6-5.4 12-12 12H108c-6.6 0-12-5.4-12-12v-8c0-6.6 5.4-12 12-12h168c6.6 0 12 5.4 12 12zm0 64v8c0 6.6-5.4 12-12 12H108c-6.6 0-12-5.4-12-12v-8c0-6.6 5.4-12 12-12h168c6.6 0 12 5.4 12 12z\"\/><\/svg><span>Show transcript<\/span><\/button><div class=\"qld__video-transcript-accordion-body\"><div class=\"qld__video-transcript-accordion-body-wrapper\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<h2>Transcript<\/h2>\n<p>Lifelong health experience, being born with mild ataxic cerebral palsy, however, receiving late diagnosis at the age of 10 and missing the early intervention window. That resulted in multiple surgeries as a teenager trying to put myself through high school.<\/p>\n<p>From a young age, I have been very vulnerable in being reliant on the healthcare system, which I am very grateful for, and it has taught me a lot of lessons. So I used to often have doctors and specialists say how well I was managing everything, but sometimes the words that I would hear, for example, when I&#8217;d be getting wheeled into theater, &#8220;Oh, this is the most complex case we&#8217;ve ever dealt with. We&#8217;ve never seen anything this bad in our whole lives,&#8221; is actually brutal. Because when you&#8217;re so vulnerable and relying on these people making you feel better, hearing those words is not reassuring.<\/p>\n<p>Even in healthcare when people go, &#8220;Oh, we didn&#8217;t even realize you had a disability,&#8221; because of my level of hard work that I&#8217;ve put in to try to make myself stronger and fitter, just doesn&#8217;t set the tone for feeling valued and respected as me, as the package that I am, and it can sometimes diminish the journey.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s okay to acknowledge people&#8217;s resilience and bravery, but also you&#8217;ve got to reassure them and not make them feel that they&#8217;re this out of the box case, which I have been made to feel my whole life, really. So you can have a mild physical disability and still be articulate, work full time, put yourself through university, drive. But it doesn&#8217;t mean that it&#8217;s not less challenging than other people&#8217;s health journeys and disabilities.<\/p>\n<p>So understanding and a bit more education and awareness of disabilities impact people differently, but the impact for them is still very real, and acknowledging that and not diminishing it. I&#8217;m very fortunate that I&#8217;ve been able to advocate for myself, but a lot of people aren&#8217;t in that position where they can articulate their needs.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_4 1_4 fusion-flex-column rhs-col\" style=\"--awb-padding-top:40px;--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:25%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:7.68%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:7.68%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\" data-scroll-devices=\"small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-builder-row-inner fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"width:104% !important;max-width:104% !important;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column_inner fusion-builder-nested-column-0 fusion_builder_column_inner_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column contact-us\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\" data-scroll-devices=\"small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div 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awb-button__text--default\">Healthcare services<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"align-self: center;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;margin-top:20px;width:100%;\"><\/div><div ><a class=\"fusion-button button-flat fusion-button-default-size button-darkgreen fusion-button-darkgreen button-3 fusion-button-span-yes fusion-button-default-type\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/locations\"><span class=\"fusion-button-text awb-button__text awb-button__text--default\">Locations<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"parent":10334,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"1","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11093","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11093"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11096,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11093\/revisions\/11096"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}