I had a very hard time deciding who this letter was for. I could write it to Dr. Matt, who owns Village Fitness and Physical Therapy along with his wife Nicole. I could write it to Dr. Erik, who works with Dr. Matt, or I could write it to anyone who is truly interested in living a healthy life, even after doctors have shown you test results that have you believing pain meds or surgery is your only option to live a pain free life. Since I was one of those people with results in hand, actually in a very large folder because there were so many, I'm choosing to write this to people who want another option; they don't want to take the risks that come along with surgery, and they don't want to live on pain meds. I hope they see this letter; Village Fitness and Physical Therapy have given me my life back; I'm in charge again and live each day to the fullest!
In 2012 I had a spine surgery to replace 2 discs and fuse 3 vertebrae, C5 - C7. I had never had back pain before and was misdiagnosed for months. After finally having an MRI, I was told the damage was severe and I needed a specialized surgery. The problem was that their specialists were booked up for 2 months, so I would have to take pain meds until the surgery. It was an excruciating waiting period that left me on extremely high doses of opiates before I switched insurances and had the surgery 3 days later by a specialist I sought out after learning about his excellent results with this type of surgery. I was left with nerve damage though, because my surgery was put off for such a long time. Please know I only include this paragraph because I want you to know that my physical condition was far from perfect before finding Village Fitness and Physical Therapy. I had also fought with hip pain since 2009 that doctors told me was possibly bursitis (not!) and gave me cortisone injections for.
Okay, finally, I have to tell you, I tried the Physical Therapy prescribed by my many doctors over and over from about 2014 - 2018 for my hip and back pain. I went to the doctors that were supposed to be "the best." I was great using those colored bands around my legs to strengthen muscles. They also tried traction and a few other techniques, but nothing worked for my pain.
I decided to try strength training at Village Fitness before the Physical Therapy addition, and it worked really well for about a year. Then I started having a lot of hip pain and I gave up. I tried doing nothing for a long time and used pain meds when it got bad. That worked for a while.
Last summer I was in a great deal of pain, and my newest MRI's showed "damage" in my hip area, and in my lower spine. I was actually scheduled for arthroscopic hip surgery and had to cancel the day before because of extreme sacral pain. I was told the surgery might cure the pain and it might not, so I was already unsure if I wanted to do it.
All of this left me feeling pretty low for quite a while. Before 2012 I had always led a healthy, active life because I knew I wanted to live long and feel good, and I just couldn't understand why all of this was happening to me.
Fortunately for me, I called Dr. Matt in March of this year. I actually just wanted his advice since I trusted him and knew he would be straightforward with me. I asked him if he thought I should have the surgery or just use pain meds to live my "best" life.
He advised me in a completely different direction. I remember looking at him like he was crazy and remember saying I didn't even consider another option. He said the physical therapy at Village is not like anything you've experienced and we would slowly use different exercises, treatments and breathing techniques to get my body where it should be so I could be pain free. Of course he used terms I have a hard time using and explaining clearly.
For a long time I really wasn't sure if any of the physical therapy would work, but I certainly had nothing to lose. It was an extra expense, since my insurance doesn't cover it, but my only other options were surgery and/or pills. I've always been a skeptic, a learned from experience trait, so for a while part of me kept thinking, "Dr. Matt and Dr. Erik are always so nice and so genuine; could this just be another business out to get money." I'm glad my skeptical side was proven wrong!
I am not a completely pain free person, but I am in a completely different "place" than I was when I contacted Dr. Matt. He doesn't know it, but before I met with him, I was in tears when I left him the message that I wanted to meet with him. I felt like I had to decide to live in pain and give up on my dreams. Today I have a different mindset altogether. I think Dr. Matt and Dr. Erik should become Psychologists too, since that type of advice has certainly helped me deal with day to day living. I realize that I may never be completely pain free, but they've taught me how to reduce the pain to levels where I don't have to consider pain medications. I've learned to breathe correct read more