So...we had cancer surgery last year. Plus chemo, and all the recovery that goes with it. On our…read morerecent follow-up with the surgeon, she recommended physical therapy (why didn't she recommend that last year??!!). And, specifically, she mentioned Bustillo Physical Therapy.
Have had several sessions now, and I can see why. Most PT offices will have you do stretches and exercises. Which is fine. But this office appears to be one of the few that knows how to handle cancer survivors. After the initial evaluation, the first thing that happened was a sort of massage of the affected area. This is to reactivate the damaged lymph system in that area, to counteract lymphedema. Most other PT offices won't do that. In fact, we consulted our massage therapists, and they said that even they don't do that. Each session begins with the lymphedema massage.
Karen is a PhD in physical therapy (per the diploma on the wall). Maybe that has something to do with it.
We have noted great improvement in range of motion, swelling, and pain in the upper body. We still need to work the lower body, but hopefully they'll get to that soon. They are starting to work strength now, because flexibility has improved so much.
The two things to "ding" them for is:
1) they don't have a lot of equipment, and
2) their layout is not the best.
I'm not sure if different equipment would benefit us or not, but they don't have a lot of equipment so we can't really know anyway. However, using the simple tools they do have we have seen a lot of improvement.
As for their layout, the biggest thing is that the work/exercise area is also the traffic area. So you're standing doing arm curls, and someone has to go past you, you have to move to allow them to pass you. That shouldn't be. Someone's workout program should not be interrupted because another person needs to go by you to use the restroom, or needs to get to the elastic bands, or whatever. I'm not an expert at designing layouts, but there should be a way to have an unobstructed path that doesn't disturb patients' routines.
This doesn't take away from the vast improvements we are seeing, but it is an annoyance that should be addressed somehow.
This is one of those situations where I'd like to be able to do a half star (4.5 stars), but Yelp doesn't do that. We are happy with the results so far, and are looking forward to further improvement.