stephanie Finds lastinG RELIEF from BACK PAIN

Last September, Stephanie Blatchford departed for an anniversary camping trip in high spirits. It wasn’t just the annual getaway with her husband, Brian Blatchford, that she was celebrating. She had finally found relief from crippling back pain.

“I was happier than I’d been in a long time because we were going camping and hiking, and I knew I was strong enough to do it,” the 55-yearold West Fargo woman recalls. “And I could do what I love to do when the kids and grandkids joined us — swimming, biking and hiking.”

Blatchford had just successfully completed Essentia Health’s eight-week spine rehabilitation program. In twice-a-week physical therapy classes, she’d learned stretching and strengthening exercises as well as the proper ways to move to avoid injuring her spine and back.

Blatchford suffers from early onset arthritis. To cope with severe pain in her lower back, she had turned to specialists and a variety of treatments, including injections, nerve burning, water therapy, chiropractic adjustments and massage. She didn’t want to rely on powerful pain medications for relief.

When a specialist at the Essentia Health Pain Clinic in Fargo recommended a new spine rehabilitation program last summer, Blatchford was skeptical. Yet she felt she had to give it a try because she didn’t like relying on a cane and sometimes a rolling walker.

“My husband and I love to hike and camp, and I have three grandchildren, so I don’t have time for pain,” Blatchford says. “I’m too young to just sit on the couch.”

Blatchford was evaluated by Shauna Garrahy, a physical therapist at the Essentia Health-South University Clinic in Fargo, and cleared for the program. For eight weeks, she joined classes in the physical therapy gym. She also exercised for 30 minutes each day at home and stepped up her walking routine.

At her first class, Blatchford was scared. First, she feared she would hurt herself as she exercised and feel more pain. Second, she feared she would not be fit enough to do the exercises. “I’m 5-foot-2, chunky and I’ve had both knees replaced,” she says. But Jensen Praska, a physical therapy assistant, got her through the session. “Jensen’s not just sympathetic, she’s empathetic and that makes all the difference,” Blatchford says. “She didn’t discount my pain but validated what I’m dealing with.”

Blatchford says she felt safe doing the exercises because trained medical professionals were teaching her and supervising her workouts. “Jensen would tell me, ‘Do what you can today. Each day is different,’” she recalls. “She’d also say, ‘We’ll do this, I promise. I’ll be with you all the way.’” fter three weeks, Blatchford felt stronger and could walk without her cane or walker. In four weeks, she felt less pain. “I was so motivated that I went out and bought exercise wear — the works,” she recalls. “When I showed up at the gym, I told Jensen, ‘I’m up for this,’ and she laughed and said, ‘I can see you’re excited.’”

Garrahy and Praska say Blatchford’s upbeat personality and her commitment to doing the exercises helped her be successful. A key to her success, Blatchford says, is that she felt she had to be accountable to Garrahy and Praska.

“We tell our patients that they’ll have some pain, but it will diminish as you get stronger,’’ Garrahy says. The physical therapist explains the rehabilitation program is backed by research that shows specific movements can isolate and strengthen muscles to reduce pain and improve mobility. The program also helps reset pain receptors in the body.

Blatchford says she has resumed many daily tasks because her back is stronger and she has learned how to safely move, lift and reach. “My husband had bought me some barbecue tongs so I could get the laundry at the bottom of my top-loading washing machine and I don’t need them anymore,” she says with a laugh.

Chronic pain and her ability to do less and less had taken a toll on Blatchford’s mental health. “There was a downward spiral of anxiety and depression,” she says. “I knew I had to find a better way.”

Blatchford praises the Essentia Health staff who guided her through the program. “I cried the last day and didn’t want to stop going,” she recalls.

Blatchford also credits her husband, Brian, with supporting her through all her treatments and encouraging her when she needed it. He even bought a massage table and learned how to give her trigger-point release massages to help her sleep. “When you exercise, you get tired and that helps with sleep,” she says. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep when I was in pain and being able to sleep makes a big difference.”