Patient Success Stories
The Phoenix Physical Therapy family of companies provides the best care to patients every day. Patient stories are the story of our company and our “why”. Our patients tell that story best.
Finding a Therapy Team That Went Above and Beyond:
Ben’s Success Story
“I had absolutely no doubt that he was in the best hands possible. This could have been a very different outcome, or a much longer road had we gone somewhere else.” – Ashley, Ben’s Mom
It was a typical January day for 16-year-old Benjamin Aaron. He attended classes and went to wrestling practice. Then, something went terribly wrong. “We were doing a drill and I felt snapping and popping and I fell. It hurt really bad. We went to the doctor right away. I couldn’t move my knee at all.” After an MRI, the doctor told Ben he had some bad bone bruising, but everything within his knee seemed to be intact. He suggested Ben wait for it to heal and try physical therapy to facilitate the process. Ashley, Ben’s Mom, knew right where to go for PT. Her friend Karen Guth, PT, DPT worked at Phoenix Physical Therapy in Clarion. Ashley remembers Ben’s first few weeks of therapy. “He saw Karen for the first bit, but he wasn’t improving the way we wanted. Then, Karen and John said something isn’t right; there was too much play in his knee.” John Curreri, Jr., PT, DPT is the Clinic Director at the Clarion clinic. He and Karen suggested Ben get a second opinion after he was not able to progress to higher level tasks during his therapy sessions. They suspected considerable damage had been done to Ben’s knee.
Ashley took Ben for a second opinion, but that doctor did not see anything on the first MRI either. After carefully evaluating Ben’s mobility and pain levels once again, John and Karen still suspected something else was wrong. They pushed Ashley to get a second MRI. Ashley trusted John and Karen and was desperate for answers. After a second MRI and consultation with Dr. Matthew Varacallo, Ben learned he had a torn PCL. Nearly five months after the initial injury, Dr. Varacallo performed surgery on Ben. John explains the procedure done on Ben’s knee. “Dr. Varacallo is part of a small group of surgeons pioneering a groundbreaking procedure called the "Fertilized ACL" which expedites recovery and return to sports times. He opted to use this procedure with Ben's PCL. Time was running down for Ben to recover with a standard procedure before the coming school year.”
Ben was back at the Phoenix PT-Clarion clinic the day after his PCL repair surgery. Ben looks back on that day. “(John) took the brace off and the wraps. He looked at my knee and moved my knee around a little bit. That was it. I had a nerve block still, so I couldn’t really feel anything yet.” Soon, the sessions became tougher. “We did leg raises and stuff like that. We moved my knee around, bending and extending it. We were trying to get my mobility and my strength back. After the first week or two, I was standing and doing other stuff. The pain wasn’t too bad. Bending my knee and extending it was the only really painful part. The doctor told me they wanted (John) to be aggressive with me. That was the best way to do it with the Fertilized PCL (procedure).”
It did not take long before Ben noticed the progress he was making. “It only took a few weeks before I saw some improvement. The first few weeks, it was new to me to be on crutches. But it didn’t take long, and I was off them.” Ashley was pleased with Ben’s progress and how the Clarion team helped make things easier on her. “They did an excellent job building a relationship with him and me. There are three other kids (in our family) beside Ben. If I was quickly picking him up and didn’t come in, John would come out to the car and fill me in. They took so much time and effort and care with his rehab.”
Ben worked with John three days a week for four months. He became comfortable walking into the clinic and considers John a friend who he trusts. “I like him a lot. He was very careful working with me. It was rough at the start, but it gets a lot easier. You just have to keep going and putting in the work. One of the goals we had was to get my knee to bend 90 degrees, and that happened in like three to four weeks. That was the first goal. Then after that, I worked on getting my range back. Then after that it was building strength.”
After his time with the Clarion team, Ben was cleared to play sports again. “I felt really good about it. I am happy now because I can go back to doing what I was doing before. I can run again. For the most part, I can do everything without pain. I feel good.” John was impressed with Ben’s determination to get better. “Ben is a great kid and very motivated athlete! He worked extremely hard throughout his course of physical therapy, starting prior to his surgery and again afterwards until his discharge. It was super fun working with him and watching him push every week to be better and return to his normal capacity as quickly and safely as possible. Ben brought a fun and determined energy into the clinic each session.”
John Curreri, PT, DPT, OCS and Ben
Ashley is grateful for Karen, John, and the whole Clarion team. “They really went above and beyond. I guess because a lot of times, no matter what area of life you are dealing with, people don’t actually care or take that time like they did. They really know what they’re doing. They said, ‘hey, something’s not right,’ and pushed us. I had absolutely no doubt that he was in the best hands possible. This could have been a very different outcome, or a much longer road had we gone somewhere else.”
Getting his Confidence Back: Gerald’s Success Story
Gerald Krepps is an active 66-year-old. He loves to ride his Harley and travel. But one day, Gerald faced a terrifying health issue and found himself in the hospital. His symptoms indicated a stroke, but doctors were not able to find the blockage. Gerald spent a week in the hospital before a specialist finally found it. Gerald remembers those frightening days. “I was scared the first couple days in the hospital. I said, ‘God don’t let me end like this.’” Once Gerald was out of immediate danger, it became clear, his left side was heavily impacted by the stroke. He began physical therapy in the hospital and then transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation center at another hospital for a month. “They got me moving around and I was able to walk with a cane. Then the head therapist did some research and found Phoenix (Physical Therapy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania) and said, ‘this is the outpatient therapy program I want you to continue with.’ It was close to home.”
The process of setting up therapy sessions at Phoenix went smoothly for Gerald. “I called Phoenix, and I told them my issues and problems, and I had my first appointment set up before I was even discharged from the hospital. I was discharged on a Saturday morning and started my therapy the next week.” Gerald met Ashley Mace, DPT, LVST on the first day. “Ashley and I had already talked. She knew my whole background and knew what was wrong. She asked me what my goals were, and I said, ‘my goal is to be like I was before. I ride a Harley, and I want to ride my Harley again.’” Ashley created a unique rehabilitation plan, just for Gerald. It started with exercises on the stationary bicycle and leg press along with resistance band work. Gerald looks back on those first few weeks of therapy. “I started with getting movement in so Ashley could see what I needed to do to improve. I was getting my baseline.”
Gerald began to see improvement quickly. “I saw a little bit of progress within the first week, week and half. (Ashley) would ask me to do something, and I would say, ‘I don’t think I can do that.’ She said, ‘give it a try.’ I was so surprised, but I could do it! She called me an overachiever.” Ashley saw Gerald’s dedication to get better immediately, and agrees, the “overachiever” label remained appropriate as time went on. Ashley recalls, “The first day I met him I knew he was extremely motivated. When I would tell him to do three sets of ten repetitions of an exercise, he would do three sets of twelve repetitions or three sets of fifteen repetitions.
He has always pushed himself with each therapy session and he was always willing to try new things in order to help him reach his goals."
The time came for Gerald to focus on building strength in the muscles he uses to ride his Harley. “Ashley came up with exercises that helped my balance and movement in my left arm and left leg so I could get back on again.” Gerald began using different machines in the clinic, but also continued his hard work outside the clinic and joined a gym. “The first time I was there, I saw a guy using half a ball and he was standing on it, using kettle bells and lifting them up. I told Ashley about it, and she said, ‘you are going to be able to do that.’ I didn’t believe her, but she pulled out the clinic Bosu ball. At first it was getting my balance for 30 seconds. Then it turned into closing my eyes (and keeping my balance) for 30 seconds. Then, it turned into doing squats. She couldn’t believe I was able to do it. I couldn’t believe it either. Then we tried the kettle bell. We started out with five pounds and went up to fifteen pounds. It worked!” Gerald trusted Ashley, knowing that working those leg muscles would help him hold up his motorcycle. Ashley continued to tailor exercises just for Gerald so he could reach his goals.
Gerald completed sixty sessions with Ashley and Clinic Director, Jenna Senholzi, PT, DPT. “I can’t say enough about them. They are just great. We worked together well. They would suggest something, and I never doubted what they came up with. We had a game plan. It was like working with friends. If it wouldn’t have been for them I wouldn’t be where I am today. I will stop back there as soon as I’m on my Harley and show them that I’m back on. I can’t thank them enough.”
Gerald knows some people have doubts about physical therapy, but has this advice, “Ashley and Jenna are trained. They know what muscles need to be worked. They incorporated exercises into my therapy that would help me feel what it was like to ride my motorcycle. It helped me get my confidence back. That’s the biggest thing. If I didn’t have somebody to push me or give me that confidence, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Gerald and the Pottstown Team
From a Season-Ending Injury to Earning her Varsity Letter: Carli’s
Success Story
“They did not let her give up. They helped her build confidence and learn to trust her knee again.” – Brooke, Carli’s Mom
Carli was thirteen when an injury stopped her from doing one of the things she loved most. “I tore my ACL playing basketball. I got taken out of the game and I wasn’t able to play the rest of the year. I was definitely sad. It was very disappointing not being able to finish the rest of the season.” Carli would need surgery to repair a complete tear in her ACL but not before she went to physical therapy to build the strength in her leg for a smoother recovery, post-surgery.
Carli and her mother, Brooke, chose Phoenix Physical Therapy in Salem, Ohio for her prehabilitation. Simply put, prehabilitation is rehabilitation before surgery to make you the strongest and healthiest you can be when you head into the operating room. Studies show prehab helps patients feel better while improving function, prepares them for the physical challenges faced following treatment, and improves their psychological outcomes by setting their minds at ease by providing knowledge of what to expect. Carli remembers going to see Clinic Director, Michael Chaffee, PT, MDT, COMT shortly after she was injured. “They did a lot of measuring and a couple small stretches because you need strength in your leg for a better recovery after surgery. They worked on building the muscles in my legs.”
After her prehabilitation sessions, Carli had the surgery. “They had to do a total reconstruction. I had a complete tear. They took part of my quad to fill it in. I definitely was still in a lot of pain, and it lasted for a very long time.” Carli was back with the Phoenix PT-Salem team less than two days after her surgery. “When I went in I was in a lot of pain, so they had to take their time. They did a little bit of bending and some exercises, but it was really hard because it was so soon after. I was very stressed out.” Carli was worried she would not be able to play basketball again, but things began to look up when she was able to do more the following week. “The next week we were bending my leg further back than the first week. I had to learn how to walk again. I would walk in the parallel bars in a brace. I would ride the bike and I’d have to go back and forth until I could go all the way around. I would pull my leg to my chest. I did straight leg lifts to try and keep my quad straight and keep my leg straight.”
Carli was making progress, and began to trust Michael and her other therapist, Danny Sawman, PTA. “They were really good to work with they definitely put in a lot of time to help me recover. Every time I walked in the door they asked my pain level, one to ten. If it was higher, we wouldn’t do as much stuff as if it was a lower number.” Carli felt comfortable talking to her team about her pain levels, and soon, it became clear, something was not right. Carli’s mother was concerned. “I had taken her to the doctor two times because she was having pain and swelling and they kind of brushed us off. And Michael is actually the one that reached out to the doctor and
said, ‘look there is something wrong.’ Then they got us in and had an MRI and that’s when we found the scar tissue.” Carli had scar tissue build up under her patella. It is not uncommon and usually requires another surgery to remove it. Brooke is grateful for Michael’s determination to find the reason behind Carli’s pain. “She only had the second surgery because of him.”
After the surgery to remove the scar tissue, Carli returned to her physical therapy team to continue her rehabilitation. She did not skip a beat. “We were able to do most of the stuff that I did (before surgery). It was just a little setback.” The progress continued and Carli’s goal to play basketball again began to come into focus. She was more determined than ever to recover, and her therapists were there to encourage her during every therapy session. “They would tell me that I could do it, and if I was giving up and not able to do the exercise they would come over and help me. They would always tell me, ‘You want to get back to basketball and if you don’t do this, then you won’t be able to reach your goal.’ So, they would help me make sure I was always determined to finish what I started.” Brooke was impressed with how Michael and Danny helped her physically and mentally. “It was nice because “Mom” pushing is a little bit different than someone else pushing. And they did not let her give up. They helped her build confidence and learn to trust her knee again. They pushed her through that little mental block she had.”
Carli reached her goals and was able to return to basketball. “I started playing basketball at the end of summer. I was also doing band at the time. We’ve been playing lots of games. We had our first win too. I’m also playing soccer again. So, I’ve definitely come a long way from where I started.” Brooke is happy to see her once again, compete in the sport she loves. “As basketball continues, she is trusting her knee more and more and her confidence is going up even more. They taught her how she is supposed to land when she’s running and how she is supposed to land when she’s jumping; things to prevent further injury. They’ve taught her proper mechanics of doing pretty much everything she is doing in sports.”
Michael Chaffee, PT, MDT, COMT, Carli, and Danny Sawman, PTA
Brooke is grateful for the Phoenix PT-Salem team. “They became our family after almost a year of therapy three days a week. And (Patient Care Coordinator, Samantha Sekola) was able to schedule two months in advance. We kept the same schedule for the most part. She just knew what we needed and make it work for us.” Michael is impressed with everything Carli was able to accomplish during her recovery. “Carli is a mature, kindhearted young lady. She carries a busy academic schedule, is involved with various sports, and is a great help pitching in to help her family.”
Carli is looking to the future now and is thankful for the physical therapy team that helped her get back to doing what she loves to do, even earning her varsity letter. “I appreciate them and I’m very glad they pushed me. If they didn’t I wouldn’t be where I am today. They will do the same for others.”
Finding Strength, Endurance and Health with Phoenix PT: M’s
Success Story
“I received a phone call from France, where my mother was living. They said my mother wasn’t good.” J went to France right away. “I agreed, something wasn’t right. I told her she should come with me to the States and maybe we could get her back to normal. She had nobody over there. We originated in Germany, but when my dad retired, they went to France. My dad has since passed, so she was alone.”
J brought her 89-year-old mother, M, home to Pennsylvania where she had been living for some time. J wanted to take her to the doctor right away, but M was worried about the potential unwelcome news she might receive. Instead, she wanted to visit with friends and family and take some time to meet her grandchildren. M had a wonderful time seeing everyone over several weeks, and once all the visits were over, M agreed to go to the hospital. J remembers that day well. “She was ready. It was her choice. I packed her up, and we made it to the hospital. The Emergency Room doctor came in to see her and said, ‘I don’t have good news.’ He said she had perforated ulcerative diverticulitis, and it was very bad.” The doctor gave M three weeks to live if she did not have surgery. M agreed to the surgery, saying “What do I have to lose!”
M had a bowl resection and colostomy bag put in. The surgery saved her life and while the recovery included some difficulties, eventually, M’s health significantly improved. Then, the focus turned to her hip. M was in pain every day and she endured that pain for about twenty years. She knew the only fix would be for her to have hip replacement surgery. J explains why she did not get the procedure in France. “She hadn’t wanted to do anything in France because her friends had horrible results there. She was scared to do anything there. Back in the US, I watched her, and she was almost walking pigeon toed. She was in pain twenty-four, seven. So, I said, let’s have you evaluated. She had such a good experience with her first doctor in the United States, it pushed her to see another one.” The new doctor evaluated M and agreed a hip replacement would help. M trusted her new doctor and decided to have the surgery.
M went home and began in-home physical therapy. She completed several weeks of sessions and then graduated to outpatient physical therapy. Because J is also a nurse, she knew about the quality of care her mother would receive at Phoenix Physical Therapy – Rural Valley - in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. She scheduled an appointment with Clinic Director, Bryan Brooks, PT, DPT. “She was walking on the walker when we first arrived. It took everything out of her, but she was so determined. She wanted to do so much more than she was physically able to do. She was very unsteady, and I was afraid she was going to fall. If she didn’t have her walker or something to hold on to, she was like a Weeble wobble. We went two times a week, just gaining strength and endurance.”
M’s sessions began slowly with exercises involving elastic bands. She started with ten repetitions and worked her way up to fifty repetitions. M did not speak English, so J was with her for every session. “They tied the bands on her legs, and she had to open her knees. After a couple of weeks, she added weights to her feet. She started at two pounds and worked her way up to four pounds. Then she had to do steps. She started out very simple, standing up using her walker to march. Then she would kick back and sideways. It was exhausting.”
J saw progress after just two weeks of sessions with the Rural Valley crew. “When she advanced to the weights, that was already progress. I wasn’t surprised because I knew my mother’s determination. You can’t deter her. She doesn’t want to be a burden to me. She knows she can’t go back to France, but she wants to be independent. She wants to be good enough to go to Texas and travel to see her other daughter.” Bryan feels M’s attitude and grit helped her through this tough time. “M was one of the most determined patients I have ever worked with! She came through a lot of adversity and was full of high energy and spunk with each physical therapy session.”
Despite the language barrier, M came to trust her therapy team. “She loved it. She loved the people; she loved the interaction. They’re like another family. She looked forward to it and would ask about her next appointment. When we went on a Monday, and didn’t go back until Thursday, she couldn’t understand why we didn’t go on Tuesday. When the doctor told her she didn’t have to go anymore, she was actually disappointed.”
The progress M made during her time at Phoenix allows her to do more with her daughter. “She graduated from wheelchair to rollator to walker and now she has a cane. But most of the time, she walks around without it! We went shopping the other day and she didn’t take the wheelchair; she took the rollator. It gave her a place to rest if she needed it. That’s what we’ve been doing. She made it all the way through one store!”
J knows the therapy plan Bryan created exclusively for her mother made the difference. “It was absolutely worth it. She has gained weight. I think the physical therapy made her more active. She looks good now! Her appetite is back. They were determined to get my mother to the point where she was stronger. She is way better than she was.”
J and M are both grateful for the time they spent at Phoenix. “Thank you and we love you! Keep up the good work!”
Building Strength, Relieving Pain after Five Back Surgeries: Pat’s
Success Story
For fifteen years, Pat Smouse has been battling severe back problems. In 2009, she had a tumor on her spinal cord, which required complete reconstruction of her spine. Since then, she has gone through four more surgeries. Pat describes the latest one. “I am on my fifth back surgery from it breaking. The first time it took me two years to walk again. In fact, they told me I might never walk, but I laughed at them. This time, they fixed the rods and the next day I was up and walking.” Pat was a college basketball coach and certainly understands the principle of never giving up. She has always been active, but needed help strengthening her core. Physical therapy was her road to that goal.
Pat chose Phoenix Physical Therapy in Lewes, Delaware. “I was going to the grocery store, and I saw the sign. I had been to a couple of other places around here and they didn’t have the same kind of attitude. I’ve been through enough through the years, so I know if I have a good therapist, which brings us to Sarah. I am honestly telling you; she is superb. I’ve never had a therapist that is as thorough as her, or that is as caring as her.” Pat is referring to Clinic Director, Sarah Leister, PT, DPT.
Pat met with Sarah for an initial evaluation. Each Phoenix patient will go through this process, so the therapist can understand the patient’s history, needs, and goals. Pat was grateful for the time Sarah spent with her. “She spends the first appointment with you and analyzes everything you can and can’t do as a starting point. You don’t do a lot physically. I told her I’m just really weak. They cut all my back muscles, plus they cut all my abdominal muscles to put this basket in.” Sarah took everything Pat said, along with her doctor’s notes, into consideration and created a rehabilitation plan just for her.
Once the plan was in place, Pat began the challenging task of rebuilding her core under the direction of the Phoenix PT-Lewes team. “There is a weight machine that has a back on it and I can do leg presses. No gym has a leg press like that. But because of the back on it I can do as many exercises as they want me to do. I’m using the treadmill and working on heel to toe walking. They do a whole circuit with me, upper body, and lower body. I get a complete body workout there. It is something I could never get at home.” That does not mean Pat does not continue the hard work at home. “When I’m not there, I do some low weights at home and some little things. I have to do my part at home too. That’s the problem with rehabilitation. Most people aren’t willing to put in that home part and that changes it. It’s not going to get done for you if you aren’t willing.”
Phoenix Physical Therapy Lewes, DE
Pat and Sarah’s relationship developed into a friendship that included trust. “She encourages me. All of them do. Steve, Tim, and Sarah. They are all the same. They all care about the people. I could not be happier. It feels like I am home. It’s family. I really mean that.” Steve is Steve Castro, Physical Therapist Assistant, and Tim is Patient Care Coordinator, Tim Ware. Pat remembers a time when she needed to cancel an appointment. “My dog got sick and had to be put down. I had an appointment, and I called Tim and said I can’t come. They sent me flowers! It has been an honor of my life to meet these people. They are pretty special. Tim does all the scheduling but if he has to pitch in, he does. They just do the job. Steve does the same thing. It is a great place.”
As Pat progressed, her leg needed special attention. Sarah became creative and Pat was grateful. “I knew she went to get certified in dry needling. The tumor was on my right side, so my left leg is affected. My left leg doesn’t move like I wish it would, and I have had extensive pain in my left leg for years and years. Sarah said to me, ‘I don’t know if your insurance is going to cover this, but do you want to try this?’ I said, let’s go! She dry needled me and I haven’t had pain there in over a week.” Sarah enjoys having a patient who is open to new things. “She has been such a fun patient to work with because she is always willing to try anything I can throw at her. We have been able to significantly decrease her pain and her strength and mobility have drastically improved as well.”
Pat’s main goal was to be more like she used to be. “At this point, I still mow my lawn, I am able to walk and I’m able to walk my dog. I know I’m not going to go back to when I was twenty, but I still need to take care of things during the day. It’s not a value to sit around and do nothing. I am up and walking now and I can take my little guy to the beach. They truly have improved my life so much; I can’t even tell you.” She is thankful she noticed the sign that day and found a rehabilitation team she can count on. “When you walk in, they have the right blend, of laughter, humor, and seriousness. That’s important. It keeps you coming back. I honestly couldn’t say enough good things about them. I am on my feet again because of them.”
Healing Physically, Mentally and Emotionally: Elizabeth’s Success Story
“I would spend many of my days laying on the couch or in bed. Just doing everyday tasks was difficult for me. Eventually, I had to stop working.” Elizabeth Eppenbach was experiencing debilitating headaches and terrible dizzy spells. She sought help from doctors and specialists, but no one could find the cause of her headaches or offer relief. She learned physical therapy may be an option for her. “I went in open minded, and really hoped to get some relief. After many visits to various doctors with no real relief, I was skeptical that it would work.”
Elizabeth needed to find a Physical Therapist with expertise in relieving headaches and one who was caring and compassionate. After going through months of pain, she was struggling physically and emotionally. “A few of my family members had been going to Phoenix Physical Therapy in Watsontown, (Pennsylvania) for different reasons and have enjoyed it. When my daughter had to go for her shoulder, they were very patient and understanding with her.” Elizabeth felt comfortable knowing her friends and family saw real results with Clinic Director, Castan Kiersch, PT, MSPT and the Watsontown team.
Each Phoenix patient spends their first appointment with a Physical Therapist discussing the reasons they are including physical therapy on their road to better health. It is a time to talk about pain levels, mobility issues, and goals, and ends with a unique therapy plan created specifically for them. Elizabeth recalls that session. “When I had gotten there, Castan and I sat and talked a little while so he could understand the nature of my headaches and dizziness. We talked about putting a plan in motion to try to relieve some of my pain.”
With a plan in place, the therapy could begin right away. “It started with me working on some neck stretches and some c-spine massages. I had ice packs placed under the back of my head to help with headaches. Then, they wrapped heat packs around my neck to help relieve the pain.” Each session progressed with new exercises and techniques building on the earlier ones. Physical Therapist Assistant, Kathleen (Kate) Carey, PTA, teamed up with Castan to complete many of Elizabeth’s sessions. “Later, we added some isometrics, which are other types of neck stretches. Kate did some muscle massages, and several body stretches. I also used the arm bike to help with my shoulder muscles that needed to be loosened from holding my head a certain way to help with my headaches.”
It did not take long for Elizabeth to start seeing progress. “My very first appointment was amazing. I went in with a horrible headache. I went home and took a four-hour nap. I hadn't been getting good sleep because I couldn't get comfortable
Castan Kiersch, PT, MSPT
enough. After a few visits I was sleeping so much better. My headaches started to become more manageable, and my dizziness started to get better.”
Elizabeth attended therapy three days a week for several months. She got to know the whole Watsontown team, including Physical Therapist, Hope Becker, DPT, and Patient Care Coordinators, Kylie Wagner, and Joni Weaver. “Every person there was so understanding and patient with me. I came with a lot, and they helped me more than just physically. My mental state and emotional state needed some help too. They went above and beyond to help me in every way that they could. Kate is such a good listener and supporter. I feel she helped me in more ways than she had to being my Physical Therapist. I am very thankful for that. If I was having a bad day the team would help me work through whatever the situation with no pressure and no judgement. If I couldn't do a certain exercise for any reason, they would just give me something a little easier that I could do.”
Elizabeth has reached many of her goals and is grateful she is once again able to do many of the things she loves to do and needs to do. “Because of physical therapy I can spend time with my family, and I can leave my house a little more. I can drive again and as silly as it sounds, I can do the dishes and the laundry. I’m able to do some of those everyday tasks I was not able to do before.” She has this to say to people who may be unsure physical therapy will help them. “I have often expressed to many people how physical therapy has helped me. I tell them they should give Phoenix in Watsontown a try. The team there will help you in any way that they can. You can't lose by going. You will be so pleased that you did.”
Choosing Phoenix PT-Watsontown was easy for Elizabeth. But she did not expect to find a group of people she can trust with her mind and body. “My injury story is not something you hear about very often. After hearing it they helped me work through some heavy things weighing on me. They understand that I have issues with putting trust in others. They were very understanding and patient, and for that I am very grateful. To Castan, Kate, and Hope I want to say thank you for everything you did and continue to do to help me heal mentally, physically, and emotionally though this journey!”
A Long Journey Back to Work: Keith’s Success Story
Keith Swaltek’s journey back to a pain-free life began several months before his first appointment at Phoenix PT-Richland Township. We begin his story with the incident that nearly changed his life forever.
“I was in the bay washing my ambulance. And while washing it, I was pulling the hose backwards because it started to get kinked up. I was trying to pull it backwards and I tripped on some boxes that were on the ground. I hit my head on a trailer and lacerated my scalp. It hurt.” That moment was the beginning of a traumatic, painful time in Keith’s life. Keith is an Emergency Medical Technician. It is a job he puts his heart and soul into every day. “I lost my dad when I was 14 years old. He was 51 and had a massive heart attack. I made it my dream back then, if I could help one family by saving a loved one, giving them a little bit more time, I would be happy.”
Unfortunately, that day in the bay, nearly put an end to his dream.
Keith’s head was stitched up at the hospital. He left with instructions to see his primary care physician if there were any other issues. Keith describes what happened when he woke up the next day. “I went to get out of bed, and not only did I have serious pain in my head, but I also had serious pain all through my lower back and hip area. I tried to nurse myself through the weekend using heat, and I attempted to return to work.” Keith knew something was not right. He spoke with his boss who agreed he needed to be seen by his employer’s workers’ compensation doctors.
Keith met with Stephanie Kamzik, from the Corporate Care office. He explained what happened and described his pain. “She sent me for an X-ray of my hips to make sure they weren't fractured. And then she said she was going to get me scheduled to get into the concussion clinic. I was able to get in that week and they tried to do a baseline concussion study. I became very nauseated and couldn't see straight. My back was still hurting.” The concussion team stopped the tests. Keith was prescribed a steroid to help with his back pain. He recalls the next steps. “(The steroid) did ease the pain, but I could still feel it. I was able to go back and get the concussion testing done. The tests showed I had suffered a severe concussion.” Keith was sent to physical therapy for the concussion, but he knew his back and hip pain needed to be addressed. He requested a separate prescription for that as well.
Keith was sent to a physical therapist recommended by Corporate Care. He spent about six weeks there, working to recover from his concussion and hip pain. “I was finally cleared with the concussion, but I still could barely walk. I could not get up steps and knew there was something serious going on within my hip.” Keith endured tests and therapy for the next several months, but the doctors and therapists could not find the cause of his pain or resolve it. Keith met again with Stephanie desperately searching for help. The pain was devastating. “The only thing that I could think was I've been working in the EMS field since I was 12 years old. I started off as an explorer for a local ambulance service and through the years I was a
volunteer fireman, and I spent 23 years in law enforcement. I just thought that my time doing what I love, saving people, was going to come to an end.” Keith felt comforted by Stephanie, who never stopped trying to help. “She never gave up on me. She said, ‘Listen, I know you're telling the truth, and I'm trying to find the answer.”
Stephanie found Keith a sports medicine doctor. That doctor did a few manual tests and looked at his MRI. Keith recalls when the doctor finally gave him an answer. “He said I tore the labrum in my hip. He said he could clearly see it on the MRI.” Relieved after hearing an actual diagnosis, Keith was eager to learn about a treatment. He was given two options: surgery or a steroid injection. Keith decided to try the injection, which would take effect in about two weeks. “He was absolutely a savior. I went to meet with him after those two weeks and I walked into his office. I had no pain in my hip whatsoever. It was a great feeling.”
Keith was still going to physical therapy for his hip during that time, but the orders from his doctor were extremely specific for a work hardening program. Keith recognized the therapy sessions he was completing did not match his goals. He went back to Stephanie and explained why he did not want to continue therapy at the clinic he had been going to. Stephanie agreed. Keith explains how she found his new Physical Therapist. “It was just mere coincidence. Anthony Damiano, PT, DPT, CSCS, (from Phoenix Physical TherapyRichland Township), happened to be there that day talking to Stephanie about his clinic’s Work Hardening Program.”
Stephanie felt confident Anthony would be able to help Keith, and she set up an evaluation at the clinic in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
The following week, Keith entered the Phoenix clinic for the first time. “Anthony came over. He introduced himself and said, ‘we're not going to do anything other than see where your baseline is and what you are able to do.’ And for the next hour and a half, he and I sat in a room while I lifted different amounts of weight, tried to walk with weights, and rotated my legs back and forth. I had more weakness in my hip than anything, and my leg was so shaky. I explained it was like my left buttocks had a stroke. I could not feel any muscle left in that area.” After Anthony knew what Keith could do, he shifted gears to his goals, the most important of them, getting back to work. Anthony then created an individualized recovery plan, based on his
Keith and the Richland Township Team
work skills and what he needed to do each workday. Then, the challenging work started.
The sessions started slowly, with Keith pedaling an exercise bike and walking up and down stairs. Keith immediately felt like he was in the right place. “Shannon, Missy, Tina, and Anthony: that is one awesome team.” Shannon is Shannon May, PTA, Missy is Melissa Ribblett, PT, and Tina is Tina Homyak, Patient Care Coordinator. Keith remembers what made him feel comfortable at Phoenix. “When I got to physical therapy at Phoenix, it was a totally different experience. Every patient in there had a will to not only recover from what they went through, but to recover and be better than what they were prior to their injury. It was awesome. Everybody talks about their stories, but everybody works hard, and everybody encourages each other.”
Keith was completing therapy sessions three times a week. But slowly, his strength increased, and he was able to go four and then five times a week. “It was a workout. It was physically straining by the time I was done working out. I really couldn't do anything the rest of the day. But Anthony, the entire time, just kept motivating more and more.” Keith’s job requires him to lift and carry people up and down steps. Anthony started him with exercises to work toward being able to do that again. “We started working with adding weight to a box that I carried up and down a set of steps. The first time I tried it, we used a box that weighs 12 pounds with two 10pound weights in it. So, I have a total of 32 pounds, and I could barely lift that up the steps. It was hard, especially when I started getting into 50, 60 pounds. It was very hard to get my legs to move right because the box was there.” As Keith progressed, he and Anthony knew they would need to adjust their exercises to simulate the lifting and carrying action more appropriately. “I was able to bring in a stretcher from work. I showed it to Anthony and explained to him how it works and everything. And from that point on we began using the stretcher as my tool at physical therapy.”
Keith and Anthony also used other tools to help with Keith’s recovery. “They not only wanted my hip to get stronger, but they also wanted my entire body to get stronger. It wasn't just about working my left leg. It was working both legs. It was working my arms. It was pushing and pulling. We used a sled. I called it the dreaded sled because it was so hard to do. I think the sled weighs 75 pounds, so with 20 pounds of weights on it, I was pushing and pulling 95 pounds.” Keith completed everything he was asked to do. He knew the exercises were making him stronger. “When I say it was a total body workout it was not only physically my body, but my mind. The
positive information (Anthony) gave me, the knowledge to help in my own recovery, was just amazing.”
Anthony’s positivity came into play when Keith had a tough day, or was in pain from the day before. “We called them modified days. I physically could not lift weight because I gave everything my body physically had the day before. (Anthony) understood.” Anthony treated the muscle pain with myofascial decompression or cup therapy. He used massage and deep heat to help resolve the acute pain. “He was doing these things for me, explaining to me why it's important, and how I could make myself better at home. The following day when I came in there, we were right back to working hard and I felt great.”
It came time for Keith to decide what he needed to be able to do to get back to work. “I explained to Anthony, it's kind of hard to say how much weight we have to lift. But I said if you think the average. person is about 200 pounds, I have to be able to lift a minimum 200 pounds and go up and down steps, forward and backward.”
After several more weeks of demanding work, Keith’s 200-pound testing day arrived. “I will tell you this. I was scared. I was very nervous, and I did not want to let Anthony down and I did not want to let my friends down. Everybody there stopped what they were doing to come watch. My wife was there with me. Psychologically and emotionally, it was one of the hardest things that I was going to subject myself to in a long time.” Keith’s therapy team loaded the stretcher. Keith grabbed one side and Shannon grabbed the other. “When I went to put my left foot, which was my injured leg, up on a step and push up, I used so much strength in pulling backwards that I just kind of sat down. At that point, all I could hear were gasps in the room and I thought, I can't. It's just way too heavy. As I sat there looking at Anthony, and looking around the room, and seeing everybody starting to tear up, I stood up. I don't know where the power came from, but I got up and did it. It was wonderful.”
Keith will remember that day forever. It was the day he knew he could return to the job he loves. “As I stood there that day, the cheers finally erupted. Everybody there came over and gave me a hug, and congratulated me. I then asked Anthony, ‘Did I pass, and can I return to work?’ Anthony looked at me and said, ‘let me ask you a
question. Are you able to go back to work and do your job and do it better than you did before?’ And I said, ‘absolutely!’ He said, ‘Well, there you go!’” Keith reflects on Anthony’s response. “When I finally thought about what he had just said, and I never did this during this long journey, but the answer was never within Stephanie at Corporate Care, the answer was never within my doctor, the answer was never within Anthony, whether I was going to get back to work. The answer was always in myself.” Anthony always knew Keith would reach his goal. “When Keith started his work hardening program at Phoenix, you could tell he was determined to get back to work and would do whatever it took to get there. Each week he would work harder and harder with greater intensity and motivation as he saw the gains in his strength and ability. Even when he had setbacks, Keith was an inspiration to everyone in the clinic. His attitude was contagious to us all."
Keith is grateful Stephanie found the Phoenix PT –Richland Township team. He knows his recovery would have been vastly different without them. “(They) were like a family. It was a family atmosphere there. It was not only about completing therapy and getting back to work, but it was so nice to walk into that place every day and for three hours knowing that I was going to be near people that cared about me. And I cared about them.”
Keith is back to doing the things he needs to do and loves to do. “I love to ride bikes in the summertime. We are a big biking family. And I could finally return to being normal again, where I'm getting up at six o’clock every morning to read the newspaper online and drink a tea and, just get ready to start my workday. The normal routine that had disappeared for seven months is back. I can't thank Anthony, Shannon, Missy, and Tina enough for their professionalism. I give them all the kudos in the world because I don't know of anywhere around here that can offer a true Work Hardening Program like they do.”
Back to Work and Feeling Great: Lynn’s Success Story
“I think it's important to be in a therapy department that cares. I felt very cared for while I was there. That’s what helped me heal.” - Lynn, Phoenix Patient Lynn Burawski hurt herself at work. She thought she had just injured her gluteus maximus, but the damage was much more severe. She didn’t notice until later. “I started having really bad pain when I moved my arm a certain way. They got me in and told me I messed up my rotator cuff. It was bad enough, and I agreed with the doctor that we needed to do surgery.” After the surgery, Lynn’s doctor ordered postsurgical rehabilitation. Because Lynn’s case involved her employer’s workers’ compensation program, her case manager directed her to Phoenix Physical Therapy in Lehighton, Pennsylvania for the treatment.
A week after surgery, Lynn walked into Phoenix PT - Lehighton. Clinic Director, Rachel Robb, PT, MPT, LAT, ATC welcomed her for her initial evaluation. “I met Rachel, a very nice person, and we just talked about my procedure and what was going to happen. She was very informative and put my mind at ease. She knew my goal was to get back to work. I was very anxious to get back to my clients.” Lynn told Rachel about some of the specific things she had to do while she was working. “Sometimes I have to do laundry. There may be a time when I have to lift (my clients) up or assist them with getting up, and of course you need your shoulders for that and your arms for that strength.” After learning more about Lynn’s daily work routine, Rachel created an individualized recovery plan, aimed at restoring her strength and mobility.
The sessions started slowly. “It wasn't too strenuous. They gave me some arm exercises to do. There was a machine that had bands on it, with a hand holder, and I was using that. It was painful, but I just tried to think of all the good things that were going to come down the road. If it was too painful, they told me to stop whatever I was doing, which is important.” Lynn appreciated the guidance and knowledge the Lehighton team shared during her recovery journey. She also appreciated something else. “And I think that's another reason I fell in love with that group. I guess it's compassion! They had compassion and they cared about their job, and they cared about the person they were working with. They listened to me. Everything I asked, they were there, and they answered me.”
Rachel Robb, PT, MPT, LAT, ATC and Lynn
Lynn began to see progress a few weeks later. “They knew when to advance me. It was done well. Once I began using the rolling machine, where you have your hand on it and you're rolling forward and backward, I could feel more strength and my (repetitions) were getting better. That's when I started to feel stronger and feeling like my body was starting to recover.” Lynn was surprised by the whole-body experience she received while working with Rachel. “She even showed me how to relax my joints. Nobody ever teaches you how to relax. We all carry our stress and everything, but she taught me relaxation. You could feel it where it wasn't hurting anymore and where you could do things where before it kind of hurt. She taught me how to relax and do things the right way.”
Lynn improved to where she could return to work on light duty. “I wasn't cleaning. I wasn’t doing a lot of cooking and stuff like that, because I usually use my right shoulder. Doing stuff was hard, but I could still do some things.” Meanwhile the work continued inside Phoenix PT – Lehighton. And Lynn was not alone. Many of the other patients she encountered were focused on getting back to work and back to life. “There are people that worked in all fields. You could tell some of them were probably working in warehouses and they were pushing heavy boxes around. So, they were working with that. There was a gentleman who did something to his foot, and he was talking about how he had to put air conditioners in. I watched them all get better. It felt like a family event, you know?”
It finally came time for Lynn to return to her doctor for an evaluation. He was pleasantly surprised with her progress. Lynn recalls their conversation. “He said, ‘Are you sure you had surgery?’ I said, I feel wonderful. Everything is feeling great. I’m back to where I can do things, where before I was feeling pain. I feel like my right shoulder is young again!” Rachel knew after meeting Lynn for the first time, she would succeed in getting the results she wanted. “Lynn was such a special patient. From day one, she established that she was willing to do whatever it took to get back to work because that was her ultimate goal. She was the kind of patient that every Physical Therapist wants. She attended her appointments regularly and did her homework! Her work ethic and drive made my job easy!”
Lynn is grateful to the Lehighton team for their help with her recovery but also knows it is important for her to put her health first as well. “We all want to feel good as we get older. You need to do what you can to make sure you're feeling good. That's therapy for me. I have told people that if they had to go for surgery and need physical therapy after, to go to Phoenix. I said, do it, because that's the kind of people you want to be with. You walk in there and everybody knows your name. Everybody has an eye on you. I love every single one of them for helping me get where I am in my life because I wanted to get back to my clients. I wanted to get back to something that I absolutely love, and they helped me get there. They're good group of friends.”
Slow and Steady Gets you Back to Work: Cody’s Success Story
“I was doing civil construction at the time. I was climbing out of the bed of a dump truck, and when I was climbing down, I slipped off the ladder, about halfway down.” Cody Shaffer knew he hurt his shoulder, but he would not know how badly until weeks later. “They think I landed on my elbow and when I landed on my elbow, it pushed my shoulder up, tearing the muscles off of the bone.” Cody went to the Emergency Room, but X-rays did not show much. He was told to keep his arm in a sling and wait for the pain to subside. But that pain did not subside, and Cody was only able to lift his arm, just above his belly button.
Cody was referred to an orthopedic surgeon who ordered an MRI. “Once they got the MRI results, they called me back in. He told me what he was seeing on the MRI wasn't good. He said that my muscles were retracted about half an inch from my bone.” That doctor did not believe he would be able to do the surgery because of the possibility a graft would need to be used to reattach the muscles. He recommended a specialist. That specialist thought he could do the surgery without a graft and scheduled the procedure. But the surgery did not go as planned. The damage was much worse than expected. “It was about a month from my accident to the day of my surgery. (The doctor said), ‘three incisions, I'll be in and out.’ But when they went in, (the muscle) was retracted about three quarters of an inch. It gained another quarter of an inch.” Cody’s surgery involved five incisions, three screws and three anchors to reattach the muscles. Cody would also need to spend the next twelve weeks in a sling.
Despite being in the sling, Cody needed to begin physical therapy right away. He chose Phoenix Physical Therapy in Clarion, Pennsylvania. “I chose Phoenix because they were close and had really good ratings and recommendations. It took a couple of days for Workers’ Comp to get everything approved.” Because Cody injured himself at work, he followed the guidelines set by his employer’s Workers’ Compensation program. Many Phoenix clinics partner with a variety of businesses to offer expert rehabilitation programs aimed at getting people back to work.
The Phoenix PT-Clarion team was ready to help Cody regain his strength and range of motion, and help him return to the job he loves, pain-free. Karen Guth, PT, DPT met with Cody on his first visit. “Karen spent about an hour with me going over what happened and what exactly (the doctor) did. He wanted to put more anchors in, but the tendons kept ripping. That is one of the main reasons I needed to be in the sling for so long. (Karen) didn't take my arm out of the sling or anything. She just slowly
Phoenix Physical Therapy - Clarion, PA
picked it up and then she did a squeeze test. She just got a whole bunch of baseline numbers and told me the plan.” That unique plan, made just for Cody, involved therapy sessions three days a week. His team knew his goals and worked with him each session to reach them.
This was Cody’s first time doing physical therapy. “I try to be as careful as possible. I played a lot of sports and stuff when I was young, but I really never had any injuries, thankfully.” Cody knew he needed to work hard to heal. He was ready. “We started off on a ladder. I would use my fingertips to raise my arm up the ladder, and I would go as high as I could before it started hurting. Then, I'd lower it back down. And every week I would get another step; get a little bit further. My favorite exercise would probably be the pulleys. I would use my use my good arm to pull my bad arm up and it just felt really good. I didn't feel a whole lot of pain.”
Cody quickly got to know all the therapists at Phoenix PT-Clarion. He worked closely with Clinic Director, John Curreri, PT, DPT, OCS. “John took the time to understand. He was very attentive to why you were in the sling and doing these things that that you needed to be doing. He would constantly go back and read my reports. He told me it wasn't going to be quick because the damage that I had was substantial.”
Cody came to trust his therapy team, becoming comfortable with the fact that his recovery would take time. “It was definitely slow going, but they worked with you. They said it's like starting to walk again.”
Cody noticed solid results about three months into his sessions. “The range of motion wasn't hurting as badly. I would still have hiccups, but John would find new exercises. And the doctor was very happy with the results and the progression too.” As Cody progressed, so did the exercises. Many were modeled after the tasks Cody had to do while on the job. Chelsy Aukamp, LPTA, focused on Cody’s ability to lift things, like grass seed. “Chelsey would have me carry a box with weight in it. Then, I would set it down, working on different ranges of motion. That was my main focus, getting my main range of motion back.”
After six months, Cody was cleared to go back to work on light duty. “Workers’ comp was there to approve (my progress) on my last visit. They had a checklist. John felt like if I was OK with it, he was OK with it.”
It has been almost two years since Cody injured his shoulder. At 34 years old, he is now back to full duty. “I'm back to work. I go play golf. I fish. The only difference I feel is my strength, which I do work on day-to-day. I'm slowly getting more and more strength.”
Cody is grateful for the Phoenix PT-Clarion team. He appreciates the diverse ways each person helped him during his time in the clinic. “I have nothing bad to say. John is more focused on the physical aspect. You know, he does get hands-on with you every once in a while, but he was definitely the one that you do more of the physical exercises with. Chelsea and Karen were more of the hands-on (therapists). They would rub the joints, rub the muscles, get you loose, and then have you do the
exercise. I learned a lot from each one of them, and I think between the three of them, they got me to where I am now. I'm 95 percent back.”
John knew Cody would find the results he was looking for right away. “Cody's determination and hard work throughout the rehab process was evident from day one. He was told by the surgeon that due to the severity of his injury, that he would likely not be able to get full strength or motion back, but Cody was not willing to accept that. He put his trust in the PT staff here and was willing to be patient with limited activities early on to allow the repaired tissue to heal, and then pushed himself hard once we were able to progress into strengthening and higher-level functional tasks further down the line. Cody's hard work paid off and he was able to be discharged from PT and his surgeon with better-than-expected range of motion, strength, and function!”
Cody shares his experience at Phoenix with family and friends. “I would recommend them to anybody. It's a good place. It's laid back. It's a more comfortable atmosphere, like a family.”
Back to Cheer for her Senior Year: Kaitlyn’s Success Story
“I was at a cheer competition, and we were warming up to go on and perform. When I did a toe touch, I honestly hit it perfectly, but when I came down, it kind of felt like a buckle and I heard a pop sound.” 16-year-old Kaitlyn Balliet knew something was wrong, but she still went on to perform that day. She loves to cheer and did not want to let her team down. After the competition, she went to the hospital. Vanessa, Kaitlyn’s mother, remembers when they heard the news. “She was in an immobilizer and some crutches but when she had the MRI, that's when it kind of became real.”
Kaitlyn had torn her ACL and meniscus. She would need surgery to repair the tears. “I cried for a few minutes, but it is my last year to cheer since I'm a senior, so it was really important to me to go back.”
Kaitlyn had surgery four months after she injured her knee. Her doctor prescribed physical therapy after the procedure. Vanessa knew right where to go. She had gone through PT for a rotator cuff injury at Phoenix Physical Therapy in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. Kaitlyn was happy with the decision. “When I met Kenny and Mandy, it was a really good experience. They're very nice, and that's what made me want to go.”
Clinic Director, Mandy Bixler, PT, DPT and Kenny Ross, PT, DPT made Kaitlyn, and her family feel right at home. “I walked in, and it felt like the room lit up when she looked at me. She had a big smile. She was like, ‘Do you need a drink? Are you Mom and Dad? It's nice to meet you guys. I'll bring you guys back into this room, and we'll get started.’” Feeling at ease, Kaitlyn followed Mandy to a private room. She unwrapped Kaitlyn’s leg, to evaluate her condition and form a plan for her rehabilitation. Kaitlyn was eager to start. “Honestly, I thought they would just be meeting me on the first day, but things started right away because I asked (Mandy) how soon can she get me back to cheer. She said, ‘I can get you started on your recovery right this second!’ I loved that.”
In the beginning, the exercises focused on healing the incision and gently mobilizing Kaitlyn’s knee. Kaitlyn was impressed with Mandy’s commitment to keeping things clean. “She first washed her hands, and said, ‘I'm going to wash my hands twice, so you know they're very, very clean.’ Then, she had me lay on the bed and she propped my leg up with a foam roller so she could take my brace and ice wrap off. Then she
Mandy Bixler, PT, DPT, Kaitlyn, and Kenny Ross, PT, DPT
put a pair of gloves on, and she started massaging around where the incision was, looking at my sutures, making sure everything looked okay. Then she had me flex and unflex my ankle so that I was getting more blood circulation in my leg.”
The next few sessions included pedaling the stationary bike, completing mini squats, and slowly putting pressure on her recovering leg. “The first five days, it was really, really painful. But I was a warrior. I didn't use the medicine that they gave me a lot. There were times where I was scared of therapy, like when they wanted me to start hopping on the one foot I had surgery on.” But Mandy understood the fear, and knew what was best for Kaitlyn’s recovery. Kaitlyn was happy to know Mandy knew how she felt. “Mandy told us she was a cheerleader in high school, and she actually tore her ACL and had the same surgery! We had to explain everything to Kenny, though. We explained what certain things were, like a toe touch or the different moves that you have to do.” Vanessa was grateful Kenny took the time to learn about Kaitlyn’s goals. “By the time (Kaitlyn) was done with therapy, he understood. He understood and he was doing the moves too.”
Kaitlyn’s doctor had specific objectives for her to complete. Mandy and Kenny kept her on track, sticking to his protocols by giving her at home exercises, some of which Kaitlyn was eager to do after her in-clinic therapy sessions. “I was like, Mom, since I'm already in pain, I want to start doing some of my exercises.” Vanessa admired her determination to recover. “Mandy had printed out some basic things that she could do at home to help her progress. There were squats and putting the handle of the dog leash around her foot, pulling it towards you. The doctor said, he wanted her to do certain things by week one and certain things by week two.”
Week two included Kaitlyn trying to walk again. Kaitlyn recalls that day. “It didn't go very well at first because I was still really nervous to put my pressure back on my leg. But then one day, my dad was holding my hands and helping me walk and a few days later I didn't need his help anymore!” Kaitlyn and her family began to see real results.
As Kaitlyn’s progress continued, the Balliet family began to feel like they found a second family at Phoenix Physical Therapy – Pine Grove. Vanessa even felt comfortable traveling while Kaitlyn continued therapy. “My husband and I had a vacation planned prior to her tearing her ACL. It was going to be the first time in 20 years we were going on vacation together without kids. Mandy said, ‘Don't worry. Everybody here is going to make sure she's doing what she needs to do.’ And Kaitlyn and Kenny developed this brother, sister relationship. You know, like your brother annoys you, so you hide his stuff.”
It took months for Kaitlyn to begin feeling like she could cheer again. The extra recovery time was due to her battle with Lyme Disease and a quad muscle that would not “wake-up” after her surgery. Quad activation failure is the inability to squeeze or tighten the muscle above the knee. It is not uncommon after ACL surgery or total joint replacement. Vanessa took Kaitlyn to see her doctor. “I asked if there something else we can do. He explained sometimes it just takes a little bit
longer for some while others don't ever get that feeling back.” The news was troubling, but Mandy never gave up on Kaitlyn and instead pushed her to stay strong and really focus. Mandy used tough talk with Kaitlyn hoping it would inspire her to work just a bit harder. Kaitlyn understood. “I said every day, okay, I'm going to start with the stairs and I'm going to do my toe raises. Then I'm going to do the bands. Then, I'll do the treadmill. Then, I'll do my balance beam. Then I'll do my jumps. I'll do the bike. I'll go to the bed, and I'll do all my stuff on the bed. And then if she had something new, I did that after.” Vanessa and her husband, Chris, was there to support her at home too. “With her at-home exercises, she was actually doing physical therapy six days a week.”
The hard work paid off. Kaitlyn’s quad woke up and her recovery continued. She is back to cheer for her senior year and telling others about how physical therapy helped her. “I’m telling you right now, if I wouldn't have done physical therapy and did not do what my doctor said, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you guys. I wouldn't be able to be in there cheering with my team. I think physical therapy was the best option for me. It’s a great option for anybody so you can go back to doing what you love.” Mandy credits Kaitlyn’s willpower for her success as well. “Kaitlyn kept a positive attitude throughout her progression in PT. She kept her eye on the goal of returning to cheer for her senior year of high school and her determination paid off!”
Kaitlyn plans to go to college to become a hospice nurse. She is also currently training to be an EMT and plans to use her income from that to pay for her education. Vanessa is proud of all her daughter’s accomplishments and is grateful for the Phoenix PT – Pinegrove team for their role in her recovery. “They care about the patient. You're not a number there. It wasn't like she was rushed. Everybody got the time that they needed.”
Vanessa tells us Mandy and Kenny were even able to see Kaitlyn cheer. They attended the final game of her senior year.
Learning to Manage Her Pain: Ginny’s Success Story
Ginny Mahr was in pain for years. It started when she was pregnant with her daughter and escalated for another 15 years. Ginny looks back. “My feet were just achy, and I thought it was just from pregnancy. Then, when I had her, I was just starting to have some numbness every once in a while and some pain every once in a while. I had some discomfort in in my foot, but I just kept walking on it. Then, I went to go from the living room to the dining room and I felt something snap in my foot.” Ginny fractured a bone in her foot, which required surgery to fix. “Looking back, the reason (the fracture happened) is because I was having so much progressive numbness in my feet that I didn't feel it until it was completely broken.” Ginny’s pain increased. “I was having pretty bad sciatica. It was to the point where it just kept progressing and it was getting worse. I was vomiting from the pain. It was pretty awful.”
Ginny visited neurologists who could not provide the answers she wanted. She tried medications, but they made her sick. X-rays showed arthritis in her feet, but Ginny knew there was more going on. She made some tough decisions. “The older I was getting, I noticed the pain and the numbness started to be a problem. I used to teach a Mommy and Me class, which I loved, but I actually stopped doing the class because I was getting to the point where it was almost dangerous for me to be teaching because I couldn't feel my feet. I had fallen a couple times in stores and things like that. I was in my forties, and I should not be falling.”
Ginny’s doctor thought physical therapy may help her. “I went to the first Physical Therapist, and they did great. But they eventually dismissed me because it got to a point where they said we can't really do much more for you.” But Ginny was still in pain. She convinced her doctor to look at her back as the cause. “So, we did an MRI. I have five degenerate discs in my back and they're all pressing on my spinal cord. Because it's five, it's not really surgery-worthy because they have to do all of them.” Ginny was devastated. She turned to family to find help. “My nephew had just graduated from chiropractic school. I called him and I said, can you just look at my MRI. He said, ‘It’s so bad, I don’t know how you’re functioning.’ It gave me validation that the pain I was in was real. He said, ‘I have a professor that I trust explicitly. I’m going to have him find you a place.’” That professor directed Ginny to Phoenix Physical Therapy in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Ginny was eager to start therapy after the professor’s recommendation. He was particularly impressed with the fact that spinal decompression traction was available at the clinic. “I went there, and I just got a really good feeling. When I first went, they started slow. The difference between when I went to physical therapy the first time and then this time, is I was pushed a little too far, too fast.” Ginny placed her trust in Clinic Director, Barrie Jo Wambold, PT, DPT, OCS, MTC. Barrie Jo evaluated Ginny’s condition, getting a baseline, and learning about her goals. Barrie Jo remembers
that day. “When Ginny first came to the office and told me all she had been through and seeing multiple different providers, I was determined to find a program that actually worked for her.” Ginny felt comfortable with Barrie Jo right away. “The difference with her was she has her own pain. It was nice to have somebody to empathize, not just sympathize. She truly can empathize, and she would know how far to push. The first day I went they had me picking up marbles with my toes and that was it.”
Ginny’s therapy sessions over the next few weeks focused on her balance. Poor balance kept Ginny from doing many of the things she needed to do and loved to do. “I would get stuck in a store. I would go to the back of the store and my feet would just…I can't even describe what it would feel like. It would feel like lead blocks. It would feel like cement. I would call my husband crying. I used to do all kinds of things. I used to play tennis. I couldn’t do anything.” As Barrie Jo learned about Ginny’s goals, she created a unique therapy plan for her. She also remained honest with Ginny, noting she may not be able to erase all her pain. Ginny was grateful to know the truth. “It was freeing because it was real. No promises. And that's the thing that everybody else did. They promised fixes. (Barrie Jo) said, ‘We're not going to fix this. It's not fixable. We can help you manage.’ It was the first time where I felt like someone got it.”
Ginny noted gradual progress as her sessions rolled on. “I started noticing that I could do things a little bit longer. They had the foam that I would have to step on and balance on one foot. The first time I couldn't stand on the foam at all, and then, I could do one foot on the foam, each side. And I was like, ‘that’s really amazing!’” Barrie Jo started adding new exercises each week. Ginny remembers the exercise progression. “We did a lot of stretching. (We did) calf exercises and stretching. I do the bridges a lot, and even with that, I started adding weights with the bridges because they started to become easy. I do leg lifts with the weights and the bands. It’s a lot of stuff like that so I can get my core as strong as it can be. Then I do the traction at the end, and that’s my reward. It feels so good. I always felt like I needed to be stretched. I always felt compressed.”
Relief and progress pushed Ginny to keep going. She genuinely enjoyed her time with everyone at Phoenix PT-Easton. “They told me I was a lifer. I loved it. I'm happy to be there for months because it's the place that I feel comfortable. It's a place I feel safe. It's the place that you feel heard. It's like a family. It really is. I leave; I feel better.” Being a lifer means physical therapy becomes part of your life. It serves as a tool to
battle chronic pain and maintain your lifestyle. Ginny was able to get some of the sensation back in her feet and she learned ways to relieve some of her pain. She also learned to advocate for herself and be proactive. “I couldn't take care of myself. I'm learning how to manage not only the pain, but how to manage my life now. I’m learning how to not put myself in positions that are going to cause me pain or fear. I'm really so, so thankful and so grateful.”
Ginny’s life is changing. Many of the things she used to avoid are now back on her list of things to do. She remembers struggling on a family trip, four years earlier. “We were down in Florida and went to Universal Studios. My pain was so bad I was throwing up. My husband had to find a wheelchair to get me out of the park.” After several months of PT, Ginny and her son went to Hershey Park. “My son and I walked six thousand steps, and I was fine. That is just four years difference. It has been life changing. I feel strong. And it's not just that I am strong, it changed my spirit. I'm more confident.” Confident and happier, Ginny knows her physical therapy team at Phoenix PT-Easton will always be there for her. “I really feel like I'm in the right place for the long haul. If I'm there for the rest of my life, I'm OK with that because this is not something that can be fixed. I guess I'm not the typical physical therapy patient, but you know, I'm taking each time I go as a win!” Barrie Jo remembers one particular day that made everyone realize all the hard work has paid off. “(Ginny) came in one day almost in tears and told me she went shopping for the first time in 10 years for a short time. Her smile said it all. Ginny is such a bright light; she always is upbeat and has a smile even dealing with pain and it meant a great deal to me that she can now share that more often. She is now in more of a maintenance type program and still making gains. Her hard work combined with the most effective evidenced-based therapy for her has made her a star patient. Thank you, Ginny, for allowing me to be part of your care and story!”
Ginny is grateful for the entire team at Phoenix. “They’re just so wonderful. (Patient Care Coordinator) Claudia has me scheduled a month in advance. She already has me in for 1 o’clock on Wednesday. It’s like a well-oiled machine. (Barrie Jo) teaches people; a lot of what she does is teach people how to take care of themselves. They know that I know my routine, so it just kind of flows. It’s very well run.
Claudia is amazing too. They’re so kind.”
Barrie Jo Wambold, PT, DPT, OCS, MTC and Ginny
You Have to go Through it to Get to it: John’s Success Story
“There is so much more in life than sitting in a chair. It’s been a wonderful, very emotional return to life.” – John, Phoenix Patient
John Baumgardner is back to enjoying life! He is dining out, going to high school soccer and basketball games, and spending time with his family. But today’s reality almost slipped away after a serious health scare. John reflects on his health issues that escalated into a crisis. “I was so full of arthritis; I hurt all the time. I wound up in a chair and didn’t go anywhere. (My family) would go out to dinner, and they would bring me something home. I wasn’t part of the family. Eventually, I was hospitalized I went in with congestive heart failure. I weighed 411 pounds. They took 45 pounds of fluid off me before I was able to leave the hospital.”
John left the hospital to go to a rehabilitation center for two weeks. “They got me on my feet. I had to prove that I could get up and go to the bathroom, get in and out of a chair, and get from point A to point B. Then I came home, and I had in-home care for eight months.” John made considerable progress with his in-home rehabilitation, but he was still on portable oxygen and required a walker to get around. John’s in-home Physical Therapist recommended Phoenix Physical Therapy in Hanover, Pennsylvania so he could continue his health journey in an outpatient setting. John trusted his therapist. “She had referred other people to Phoenix, and they had good success so she felt confident I would be in good hands.”
John met Madeleine Brown, PT, DPT during his first visit to Phoenix. They discussed John’s goals and Maddie created a customized plan to help him reach them. “My goal was to be able to walk with my cane again, instead of the walker. I wanted to be rid of the oxygen, so I didn’t need to deal with that, and I wanted to be a normal human being again.” The work began right away. “We started doing stretches and band work. We did a few upper body things with the bands. I have arthritis in my shoulders, and I’ve had three knee replacements. One of those knees doesn’t work very well. That limits me on my mobility.” Maddie took John’s limitations into consideration, and focused on increasing his overall strength to help.
John ditched the oxygen quickly. He also noticed other improvements within the first two weeks of working with Maddie and Hanover Clinic Director, Katie Livelsberger, PT, DPT, COMT, FAAOMPT. “(The improvements) gave you the energy, the spark, the want-to-be-there, can’t-wait-to-get-there attitude.” Slowly, Maddie increased John’s lower body exercises so he could improve his walking. “We were doing light upper body and concentrating on the lower. We did ball squeezes, ankle rocks and band work down there. We started progressing so I
John and Madeleine Brown, PT, DPT
could get out of the chair with strength. I can get out of a chair now and I can move better place-to-place.”
Once John’s legs were stronger, Maddie switched gears to his upper body. “I do a full therapy session with weights. I’ve progressed into ten pounds with my dumbbells. My left shoulder has some severe arthritis, so I have an eight pounder in my left arm, and a ten pounder in my right. I’m doing 100 reps. I go for the burn. (Maddie) was hesitant at the start. I said, ‘I trust you; you need to trust me.’ I went from 25, to 30, to 35, to 60 and then all the way up to 100.” Maddie and John worked as a team and reached milestones together. John even lost 125 pounds. “She’s my coach. I want to be a better player, so I’m asking the coach to let me see where my limit is. She trusts me and she watches me. I have a habit of holding my breath. She catches me doing that and tells me to stop. She’s fabulous. Katie works with me too. That pair, they’re just a dynamic duo. They both fabulous people.”
A few months in, John became worried about hitting a plateau and not making any more progress. “I was a little disappointed, and someone said, ‘John, you’re losing your belly We can see it. You’re not losing weight; you are getting muscle.’ I’ve got guns in my arms now!” John’s appearance is changing, and so is his life. “I’m (able to go to) whole soccer games. I get to go to basketball games! It was such a treat to me. All the other times, I only got scores. I wasn’t there. This year I’m there. It’s so inspirational. I’m part of the family now. I’m going to restaurants now and I’m with friends and family. It's been a wonderful, very emotional return to life.”
John is making plans to travel and has a few more goals he would like to reach. “I want to be more confident using my cane. When I do that, then I can just walk out to the car with my cane, and I’ll drive again. I’ll have more independence. I can go to the store for my wife and help her.” John found his motivation in his family and in God. “There is hope. I did not want to give up. I told my kids over the years; you have to go through it to get to it. You are working for you. God gave me my inspiration. I wasn’t done. I have more life to go.”
Maddie is impressed with John’s drive to succeed. “Since the very first session, John has been extremely motivated to achieve his goals of walking with a cane and improving his overall strength. Over the course of his physical therapy program, he achieved his goals and has even been able to transition to an independent Phoenix Fit program! It was an absolute pleasure to work with John and he is a true success story!”
John considers Maddie and Katie family and credits his recovery to their caring, committed attitude. “The institutional workouts I had before were all business. They were, ‘you’ve got this to do, this to do, this to do and you’re done and out the door. You were a cookie cutter or part of the assembly line. It wasn’t warm, or one of those things you look forward to. (At Phoenix), when it’s my therapy time I actually look forward to it.”
John is grateful for the life he has now. “It’s just been a whirlwind year as far as my health, and it improved my relationship with my wife. I’m not just sitting in a chair and she’s having to help me. I get up and I help her now. She doesn’t feel like she’s just a maid anymore. She’s back to being my wife. We’ve been married for 51 years. We’ve gone through a lot. It’s nice to be able to come out on the other side with some sunshine and roses.”
John and the Hanover Team
Finding Long-Term Relief: Sue’s Success Story
“They are absolute workhorses in dedication, moving toward improving people's lives.” – Sue, Phoenix Patient
Sue Wessner is back to work and living her life pain-free after working with the team at Phoenix Physical Therapy in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. She is a bridge instructor, who owns two bridge clubs in Reading where she teaches and directs a weekly bridge game. Additionally, for the last sixteen years, she has taught people how to play on cruise ships. At some point Sue developed extreme pain in back and neck. Sue recalls trying other physical therapy clinics, but not finding relief. “I wasn't getting anywhere. I just wasn't getting any help. I’d be discharged and the problem would come back.” Sue asked her doctor for another PT prescription, but for a different clinic. “I said, ‘I drive by Phoenix all the time. I know nothing about them, but I'm just thinking it would be good place.’” Sue knows she has the right to choose her Physical Therapist, and she chose Phoenix.
Sue asked all the right questions when setting up her first appointment at Phoenix. “I went home and called. The woman was very nice on the phone. She set everything up. And, of course, I had several questions. I didn't know if (my therapy) would cost an arm or a leg.” As a courtesy, Phoenix provides patients with a good faith estimate of the costs they should expect when attending therapy. Armed with knowledge and hope she would soon find some relief from the pain she was experiencing, Sue arrived for her first appointment with Clinic Director, David Kisha, MSPT, CSCS. “He asked me all kinds of questions. He was tremendously thorough and asked about every aspect of what I had been experiencing. I was also diagnosed with Cervicogenic Vertigo. It just sort of made me a little bit out of kelter. I had to watch myself. My balance wasn't like it should have been. This man knew how to take care of it. He knew exactly what it was. He is totally dedicated, and I have to tell you, I've lived in Hamburg all my life. I never saw this man before I went there.” David immediately made Sue feel comfortable and she was ready to rely on his expertise to create a unique therapy plan based on her goals.
Sue began working hard under the guidance of the Hamburg team. Her sessions included Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) therapy, a non-invasive treatment that uses electric pulses to reduce pain. Sue remembers some of the
other techniques David used to restore her strength, mobility, and range of motion. “They have you do some chin tucks and then you are out doing things with the pulley and then you are sitting on a bicycle using your upper arms. Sometimes you're out with the general public, which doesn't matter to me at all, and sometimes you're in a private room. When you get in the next time (David) follows up. He asks ‘how did it go? Did you have any specific pain anywhere?’”
Sue saw progress each day, especially with David’s manual, hands-on therapy, which helped her immediately. “I felt a little pain when he was pushing but I also felt some instant relief. I could tell we were heading in the right direction. And while he's pressing around on my neck, he's telling me wonderful things about his wife. He’s a Steelers fan and talked about the Steelers games.” Sue got to know David personally, as time went on. Their relationship turned into one of trust and her worry about not being able to return to the job she loves faded. “I own the last two (bridge) clubs in Berks County. There are thirty-five plus, mostly senior citizens, who drive their cars through the city and come to that game. Some of these people are well up in their nineties, and this gives them an excuse every Tuesday and Thursday to get up, get dressed, go to the game, and for three hours sit across from somebody who's interested in them. The bridge club is almost an extended family. (David) just put me totally at ease.”
Sue delt with pain and vertigo for close to three years. Now, Sue has been feeling great for months. She is grateful for the Phoenix PT – Hamburg team and shares this advice. “You need to go to Phoenix because there you will find people who are dedicated and caring. They're very compassionate about their work and they're gonna be able to figure it out for you if the situation can be remedied. I fully believe in them wholeheartedly.”
Sue’s goal is to work another five to ten years and live an active life. David is confident she will achieve anything she sets her mind to. “Her obvious outgoing nature along with her willingness to follow through with her home program and postural awareness activities has helped in her success in resolving her neck pain. Sue is an amazing woman, and it has been a blessing and an honor to be her therapist on her road to recovery.”
David Kisha, MSPT, CSCS and Sue
With over 150+ community-based outpatient clinics, our passionate and experienced team of clinicians provide physical therapy, occupational therapy, occupational health, athletic training, massage therapy, and more. Your life should be pain-free and filled with activities that you love. With help from the Phoenix family of companies, you can recover, recharge and rise!