Success Stories

I have always had aches and pains in my knee from various activities in my life. But one day in November, standing at my co-worker’s desk, my knee decided to buckle really bad. I was in a lot of pain and was limping to work for over a week but kept thinking to myself, “it’ll go away like it always does.” Well, it never fully healed, so I went to my orthopedic doctor and got MRI’s done on it. My right knee had “multiple areas of severe cartilage damage” and I had to get micro-fracture surgery to help it heal and remove the cartilage particles that were floating around. I was on crutches for over 8 weeks. I hated it so much but I tried to remember that it was for my own good so that I “hopefully” didn’t have to get a full knee replacement. Surgery also meant that I would need physical therapy.

I Googled physical therapy near my house and then realized that Coury and Buehler was literally down the street from my house! I was so happy that my insurance worked with C&B and immediately went for a consultation. I met Scott and he was so helpful from the first minute we talked. I really appreciated his concern for my knee, and he gave me a game plan on how to get through it all.

Initially, I didn’t think physical therapy was going to do anything. My ortho doctor had me on the knee bender 3 hours a day, and then prescribed me to PT 3 times a week. I admit that it was hard to squeeze in the sessions with my busy work schedule, but I knew I had to do it if I wanted to get better. If I didn’t go and the surgery didn’t work, I would regret it for the rest of my life. I told myself “suck it up cupcake!”

I was surprised at how many gadgets and “tricks” Scott used to treat the various concerns of my knee. I didn’t think stretching was important but he helped me understand that it is very important in the healing process. He would also explain everything he was doing so I could understand why it needed to be done – which helped tremendously. Scott helped me stay patient and realize the process will work if I stuck to it… And I did! Scott also had a wonderful intern/student with him that helped me as well (shoutout to Omar!).

My results after going through PT were great because now I can get back to doing the things I love (and really missed)! I skydive almost every weekend and have close to 1,250 skydives in my 8 years of doing it. I also could go back to scuba diving in the beautiful warm waters of Cozumel and Belize. I am still careful with my knee and I don’t do anything stupid (and yes I jump out of perfectly good airplanes all the time and it’s not stupid!). Scott knew how anxious I was to get back in the sky so he helped me get there as fast (and safe) as possible.

After actually experiencing PT for myself, I now believe in all the great things it can do for people who are also in pain. It does work. It helped me not give up hope with my progress. Actually seeing things improve by measurements (measuring my knee bending ability) and strength (holding my leg in positions that I used to not be able to do) made me extremely happy.