Today I completed the resurrection of my right shoulder with the help of Jen, Feddy, Priya,…read moreJennifer, and another lady whose name I regrettably never got. I could not be happier with the experience. If you need physical therapy, you need to call these people. They are friendly, knowledgeable, and dedicated. What's more, they really care. What they did for me was nothing short of amazing, and I will be forever grateful. I also spent quite a bit of time there and watched them interact with other patients, so I know my experience was not a unique one.
Now that I have your attention, let me share some details of my experience. Those may resonate with you if you're in a similar situation. Or you could just call them and book an appointment now.
First, a little bit about me. I'm an extreme introvert and am usually content to just deal with a health problem because it's easier to ignore it than to pick up the phone and have an awkward conversation with a stranger. It doesn't make sense, but that's me.
My injury was to the rotator cuff in my right shoulder. It was a bad one, and I ignored it for years. Circa 2008, I went to a White Sox game, had a few beers (and then a few more), and got talked into throwing a baseball in one of those radar gun booths to see how fast I could throw. The warm throb in my shoulder afterwards was not a good sign. The following morning when I bent down to tie my shoes it felt like my shoulder fell out of the socket - probably a worse sign. Eventually I couldn't even put my right hand on top of my head. Over the next year, I ignored it and started doing things left-handed. It kind of healed, flaring up occasionally and still causing pain at the extents of my motion. Most of the mobility came back. Then in early 2022, I aggravated it again bowling.
My journey with Emery Physical Therapy began with a search that is likely similar to the one you're doing now. I went to my doctor, I got an X-Ray and an MRI and was then told to, "find someone local who does physical therapy". As bad as my shoulder was, I was skeptical that physical therapy could help. I looked at Yelp and Google. I did a search on the site of my insurance company. I read all kinds of reviews.
It's embarrassing, but as I said before, I hate making those calls. I dreaded it. I put it off. When I finally called, a sweet voice (Jennifer) answered the phone. I remember asking if they did shoulders. I was awkward. I had a long story. I didn't even know how to start that conversation. She took my information, and we exchanged some documents via text and email. That experience could not have been easier and put me at ease for the first appointment.
In the first meeting, I met Jennifer from the phone and also the other Jen (Laube) who would be my physical therapist. She assessed my shoulder and asked me some questions. At this point my shoulder was a mess. I could put my left thumb behind my back and up between my shoulder blades, but I couldn't even get my right hand behind my butt. Coats, shirts, and backpacks had to go on right arm first. Reaching for my phone on the nightstand was painful as was lifting the covers. I certainly couldn't throw anything. My goal was to have a functional right shoulder that I could use without pain, to be able to play catch with a football with my son, and maybe even to be able to bowl again (although that seemed unfathomable in February).
Over the next 4 months I saw Jen twice a week. In the beginning, she taught me exercises to regain the range of motion in my shoulder. She taught me how to NOT sleep on it. She and the rest of the crew patiently worked with me to make sure I was doing all the exercises correctly (and admittedly, I was not great at them). Gradually the range came back. When I started, I'd stretch to the edge of discomfort (further would have caused pain and she told me many times "If it hurts, don't do it!"). By the end, there was no pain at all at the end of those stretches.
Then we moved on to strengthening. New exercises! Toward the end of strengthening, she taught me how to NOT re-injure myself. She re-taught me how to throw a tennis ball. Apparently, I had been doing it wrong for over 40 years. I not only learned how to do it right, but my accuracy quickly improved. Then she re-taught me how to throw a football. You guessed it, I'd been doing that wrong too. In one 10-minute session in the parking lot, I went from throwing wobblers to some decent spirals. Then this past weekend, the impossible happened, I bowled 2 games pain-free with a 14lb ball. We made it all happen!
Today was my last day of physical therapy, and while I'm ecstatic with my progress, I'm actually a little sad. I'm going to miss this team. They're really great people and did a fantastic job for me. I can only hope that this review will encourage others in need of physical therapy to reach out and give them a chance to help.
