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By JOHN C. COTEY

john@NTNeighborhoodNews.com

Michele Patterson says she spends a good portion of her time as a Realtor sitting in her car, driving to and from houses, getting in and getting out.

Her job has taken a toll on her lower back, and for years, and after dozens of visits to massage therapists and chiropractors, her pain never went away. She said her blood pressure had spiked due to the pain and spasms.

“My quality of life was horrible,” Michele says. “I was afraid to get into a bath tub because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get out.”

Then she met Kelly Pearce Baez, Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), who, along with her husband Joel, runs Tampa Bay Physical Therapy off E. Fletcher Ave. in the Tampa Telecom Park in Temple Terrace.

Michele was initially skeptical, then relieved…literally.

“Instant relief,” she says, calling it a miracle. She completed 12 sessions with Kelly, who she says is practically a family friend now.

“I mean, I am telling you I can’t say enough,” Michele says. “She has saved my life. And that’s not even a cliché. Having that 1-on-1 with someone who really cares about your whole life, and not just your injury, was holistic.”

Michele was actually Dr. Kelly’s first patient — Tampa Bay Physical Therapy has only been open since October, and last week celebrated its official ribbon cutting (photo on next page). Michele says the new business already has the art of customer satisfaction down, due primarily to the way Dr. Kelly invests her time in her patients.

Dr. Kelly Pearce Baez works on Michele Patterson, who says the pain relief she has received at Tampa Bay Physical Therapy in Temple Terrace has been a “miracle.” (Photos by Charmaine George) Dr. Kelly says the 1-on-1 nature of her job is one of the best things about it, along with being able to help people recover from injuries and find relief from debilitating pain. She originally went to school to be a teacher, but changed course and got her health science degree (with a concentration in biology) from USF and her D.P.T degree from Nova Southeastern University. After working for a year at BayCare, she decided to open her own practice.

“I really enjoy making a difference in people’s lives, and helping my patients become independent, functional and able to do the things they love,” Kelly says.

Joel, who runs the business and marketing side of the practice, says the most important thing about Tampa Bay Physical Therapy is that, “you get Kelly.”

That’s a big deal for many patients, who have plenty of options in the area to choose from but, Joel says, few that don’t put up a wall between the doctor and the patient. And, Kelly also is fluent in Spanish, which is not always easy to find.

“It’s like a personalized, tailored experience for our patients,” he says.

Tampa Bay Physical Therapy offers a wide range of services.

Dr. Kelly treats weekend warriors and their sports injuries, and helps others who may have impaired movement of certain joints following, or prior to, surgery.

She can align your back and then, through exercises and stretches, activate the proper muscles to hold that alignment. She also offers soft tissue massages.

Dr. Kelly employs the latest exercise machines, as well as electrotherapy systems like the Vectra Neo and the Richmar HydraTherm, a heat therapy unit, to provide strength and relief.

Dr. Kelly and her husband Joel (both holding the scissors) opened their location in October, but celebrated their official Uptown Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting on Jan. 27.

Her office has a special room to treat those with neurological disorders involving issues like stroke, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis and Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Dr. Kelly offers the LSVR BIG program, an intensive 1-on-1 treatment created for PD and other neurological conditions to help with walking, balance and things we take for granted, like buttoning a shirt when we get dressed.

She also treats those with vestibular disorders like vertigo, motion sickness or concussion symptoms. “You would be surprised how many people suffer with vertigo,” Dr. Kelly says. Factor in pediatric rehabilitation and a wellness program — designed to build core strength, prevent injuries and help with weight loss through exercise — the practice offers, and you have a wide array of services, which is by design. Instead of specializing in one thing, Dr. Kelly says she took on multiple therapies, “so I can help everyone.” When you visit Tampa Bay Physical Therapy, Dr. Kelly will give you an examination, test for mobility and strength, try to find the root cause of any pain and design a treatment plan.

The length of any plan will vary, depending upon the severity of the pain or injury. Dr. Kelly says she helped a woman suffering from an ear issue in one day, but an Achilles rehabilitation or neurological issues will take much longer.

Tampa Bay Physical Therapy accepts some insurance plans, like Medicare, Aetna, Cigna and Humana (as well as a few others) and is adding more as quickly as possible.

The office also offers a sliding fee scale in an effort to help those who need it the most.

“I’m very different,” Dr. Kelly says. “I got into this because I really wanted to help people. Yeah, I understood that you can make money, too, but that’s not what drove me. What drove me was the ability to make a difference in people’s lives.”

Michele can attest to that. Now that her 12-week program has ended and her back pain is under control, she will begin another regimen to help fix a bothersome shoulder that she thinks may be the root cause of her back pain.

As anyone who has gone through any physical therapy knows, it is a twoway street, and Dr. Kelly always sends you home with a variety of stretching exercises to quicken your recovery.

“Sometimes, you have to teach people how to walk again, or teach people how to do tasks as simple as sitting and standing,” says Dr. Kelly. “The point of this is, I examine you, I teach you, I give you home exercises, I make you independent and functional and I send you on your way. My goal is to help you learn how to stay healthy, not to keep you (coming back) forever. The endgame is that you don’t need me anymore. My job is to get you better, and in the event that anything else happens, I’m here for you. Otherwise, I just wave to you in the street.”

Dr. Kelly and Joel also are eager to serve and be part of the New Tampa community, where they live in Live Oak. They will be offering free alignments and massage at the Chargers Soccer Club’s matches at Benito Middle School on Saturday, February 26, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., and free 15-minute massages March 25-27 at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club during the golf tournament being played there that day.

Tampa Bay Physical Therapy is located at 13328 Telecom Dr. in Temple Terrace, and is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., and on Saturdays by appointment. The office currently is offering a free 20-minute consultation and free 15-minute massage with your first paid treatment. For more information, visit TampaBayPT. health, call (813) 771-0777 or see the ad on page 34.

By JOHN C. COTEY

john@NTNeighborhoodNews.com

Monica Crabtree says she has suffered from terrible asthma and allergies her entire life. Even into her 30s, she was a slave to nebulizers and inhalers, four different allergy medicines and constant disruptions of her life.

Knowing this, a friend of Monica’s suggested she give the Salt Room Wesley Chapel a try.

Now, four years later, not only is Monica an employee of owner Danielle Howard’s Salt Room Wesley Chapel, which is located right off Bruce B. Downs in the Windfair Professional Center behind Florida Orthopaedic Institute, she also is one of its top evangelists.

“We don’t want to oversell it,” she says, “but it changed my life.”

Salt therapy, also known as halotherapy, is essentially breathing in salt particles, which is supposed to help with several maladies. Salt therapy can treat upper and lower respiratory conditions like colds and flu, allergies, asthma, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, sinus infections, hay fever and emphysema. The anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of salt, according to the Salt Therapy Association, have been shown to help treat eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis. When you visit The Salt Room in the Windfair Professional Center off Bruce B. Downs

Blvd. in Wesley Chapel, you’ll meet (l.-r.) master esthetician Regina Motter, manager Lana Foti, owner Danielle Howard and manager Monica Crabtree.

At The Salt Room Wesley Chapel, there are explanations on the backs of cards explaining how the salt therapy can help with each of these issues.

Monica says the idea is not so different than other ways of taking advantage of salt’s holistic healing properties, like gargling with warm salt water to help ease a sore throat or breathing in the salty air near a beach, which has long been considered to be beneficial for your air passages even if it’s not medically proven. In Monica’s case, salt therapy helped with her asthma and allergies. Although she was skeptical, she did one session and experienced some nasal drainage, prompting her to try another session. After experiencing the same results, Monica signed up for a one-month unlimited membership and began visiting the Salt Room four days a week.

She says by the third week, she noticed she was not using her inhaler as much, where before, she had been using it multiple times a day. She stopped taking Claritin D every day. Her nebulizer and other medications were no longer such a big part of her daily routine.

“Salt therapy isn’t a treatment for asthma,” Monica says, “and it’s not going to get rid of asthma or allergies, but it’s a complement to what you’re already doing.”

Asthma and allergies are barely a part of Monica’s life anymore. As one example, she doesn’t have to vacuum the house wearing an N95 mask with the doors open. When she does feel a little stuffy, she says a therapy session will help flush her out.

“I’m now 34 years old, and I love going to the doctor and finally being able to write “N/A” under what medications I am using,” she says.

Stories like Monica’s are the reason Danielle opened the Salt Room nearly five years ago. She recently sold her second Salt Room location, located at the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Center, but is opening a third Salt Room in Citrus Park sometime this month.

Before opening her original location, Danielle had been driving her young son to The Salt Room Orlando for salt therapy and was thrilled with the results. She says her son has never been on antibiotics and has never had an ear infection.

A big believer in using what the earth provides — she also co-owns Lüfka, a refillable, zero-waste store that operates under the same all-natural premise — Danielle says there are plenty of natural alternatives to many of the medications provided by doctors. There is a time and place for medications, she says, but adds that they can be overused and often abused.

One of The Salt Room’s clients, an 88-year-old military veteran, had suffered for decades with sinus issues. After several salt therapy sessions, he said he could taste his coffee and smell his fresh-cut grass for the first time in 40 years.

“There are success stories that will make you cry,” Danielle says.

Relaxation & Results

The Salt Room Wesley Chapel strives to be a relaxing and therapeutic oasis. It has two salt therapy rooms, each with three tons of natural rock salt covering the floors and walls. Clients can sit or lay in the room and relax as soft “spa”music plays in the background.

A top-of-the-line halogenerator also pulverizes pharmaceutical grade salt into small particles that are pumped into the room and inhaled.

Each room, which can be set to a variety of moods (see above) can accommodate multiple people and is even used for salt therapy yoga classes.

A children’s room (photo, right), with more than a ton of salt, also is popular. Children can enjoy books and toys while playing on salt that is providing potential health benefits.

While it is mostly known for its salt therapy, The Salt Room Wesley Chapel also offers other wellness services.

Dr. Stephen DellJones, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM) and a Florida Health Department-licensed Acupuncturist, offers acupuncture and cupping, while master esthetician Regina Motter offers holistic salt room facials as well as other specialty facials, and Star Ryan offers organic hair coloring.

Danielle says Covid has helped place an emphasis on respiratory care and selfcare. While the spread of the virus initially shut her business down for six weeks in 2020, this past year has been like a slingshot effect, making it her most successful yet. Clients are seeking her out for what they believe are the physical benefits of salt therapy, as well for the reduced stress and anxiety she says it helps promote.

“This is a passion,” she says. “It’s not a fad, it’s not going to come and go. We just want to educate people on the benefits of salt therapy, and the more people that try it the more they stay with it.”

The Salt Room offers individual 45-minute salt therapy sessions for $45, or you can buy monthly and yearly memberships for the therapy, as well as for the variety of other wellness services offered.

If you mention this article, you can get a monthly unlimited salt therapy membership for just $99 per month (the regular price is $249).

The Salt Room Wesley Chapel is located at 2718 Windguard Cir., Suite 102. It is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; 2 p.m.-6 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday; and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit SaltRoomWesleyChapel.com, call (813) 501-8578 or see the Lüfka/Salt Room ad on page 31.

This Just In: Justin Scott Can Play!

By JOHN C. COTEY

john@NTNeighborhoodNews.com

Wharton senior Justin Scott took in every high five, every pat on the back and every hug on the most glorious night of his life.

The doctors who birthed him wouldn’t have believed it. His first teachers would be floored. Most anyone who knows anyone with cerebral palsy would be flabbergasted.

This kid can play.

Overcoming the greatest of odds, Justin held his head high as he walked off the field towards the locker room, still talking about the game, a 2-0 Wildcats win over Durant, a victory he started and played almost all 80 minutes of, like it was a dream he hoped would never end.

“I was told I would never walk, I would never walk, and I was told I was going to die before I was two year old,” Justin said. “Now look where I am — playing soccer for my high school team.”

On Jan. 14, 18-year-old Justin started at forward for the Wharton boys soccer team, a surprise reward for his years of perseverance, his positivity and his commitment to his teammates.

Justin says soccer has long been his passion. He once had a hat trick in a league game at the YMCA and, in limited action at Turner-Bartels K-8, he was a goaltender who never allowed a shot past him.

But, in high school, as the players get bigger and stronger, Justin was outmatched.

He didn’t try out for the soccer team as a freshman, because he was too nervous. He was cut as a sophomore but, instead of giving up, he accepted a spot as the team’s manager and promised he would try out again.

He again was cut junior and senior years. “I really thought this year I had a chance,” Justin said.

His chance did finally come, on Senior Night, where friends, teachers and family — his mother Michelle and her husband Rob, his father Michael Scott and his wife Jennifer, and grandmother Blannie Whalen — gathered while waving cutouts of Justin’s head on a stick, to celebrate the young man who just wouldn’t quit.

When he was introduced as part of Wharton’s starting lineup, he trotted out to the middle of the field where his smiling teammates high-fived him. When the first whistle blew, he took off like a bolt, chasing down the opponent, and blocking a long pass at-

Wharton senior Justin Scott celebrated Senior Night (top right) by being announced as a starter for the school’s soccer team, to the delight of his teammates (bottom right) and then diving right into the action and mixing it up with the Durant Cougars. (Photos:

Karl Greeson and Charmaine George).

tempt by jumping in front of the ball, the thud sending a shiver down his mother’s spine.

“I was pretty nervous,” Michele said, “but I was also so full of pride. He played so well. He was fearless.”

Justin was born prematurely, a childbirth during which Michelle had an allergic reaction “to a penicillintype drug” and went into anaphylactic shock. Justin was born with brain damage and, sometime around the age of 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

He learned how to walk, which wasn’t supposed to happen, and learned how to talk, too. Eventually, he was running and jumping around and fell in love with soccer, and grew into a popular kid that teachers and classmates rallied around.

While cerebral palsy had stripped Justin of many of the motor skills and coordination needed to play, he never stopped once he started, not only playing but learning how to be a linesman and refereeing games and helping to coach his old middle school team.

And, of course, he was a great manager, always there, always encouraging, so eager to be part of the team. But of course, his dream was to play. And Wharton coach Scott Ware finally

Wharton High senior Justin Scott gave him his opportunity.

“He deserved it,” Ware said. “He’s definitely earned it.”

Justin called his mom when he first heard it might happen and, when it became official, he brought home his kit (uniform) and proudly tried it on for her.

“He told me, ‘Mom, this isn’t just about me, I just want people with disabilities not to give up on themselves,’” Michelle said. “That’s how he is.”

The next day, Justin, who has been accepted into a number of colleges but is really hoping to attend the University of Florida, wore his kit to school, and later that night played in it: No. 14.

And Justin played hard, as hard as he could, eager to make the most of the moment. He chased down opposing players who had the ball, mixed it up in the box with others trying to jostle for a shot, actually had a few potential goals go awry and even had a header.

Every time he came close to a ball near the goal, his teammates on the bench would lean forward, and in unison yell “Justin” in anticipation of a miracle.

“We were all excited for him that he was playing,” said senior Christian Lundblad. “If he had scored, I would have stormed the field. I might have gotten in trouble for it, but I would have done it. We were all rooting for him tonight.” At halftime, he was asked if he was tired. “I could keep going for another two days,” he said. In the second half, a ball was played into the box from the far side. The ball miraculously found its way through four players and the keeper, right to the feet of Justin. He was surprised it got to him, and reacted as quickly as he could, sliding and poking the shot just wide of the open net. It was agonizingly close. “Nine times out of 10 the goalkeeper stops that ball,” Justin said. “That’s why I missed it. That will haunt me for days and years.” But, it didn’t stop him from smiling afterwards. Just playing in the game was a dream come true. Justin said he doubts his coach even knows just how much it meant to him. He was proud, and grateful beyond words for an opportunity he thought would never come. “I just never gave up,” he said. “It’s the story of my life.”