“Going to CBPT was the first major step in my recovery. And now, I’ve even climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro!”
– Janice Llamoca
JANICE LLAMOCA
I was the passenger in a car accident in 2011 that resulted in an almost two-month hospital stay. I used a wheelchair for the next six months because I had to relearn how to walk. I had many injuries, but the major ones were a shattered sacrum, fractures in the lumbar spine, and broken ankle and wrist. It was funny because I think my paperwork said that I was coming to PT to work on my left wrist, which was a minor injury. I showed up the first day in a wheelchair with a black surgical boot (that went half way up my shin) on my left foot, a black wrist brace, and a white plastic body brace that went up to my neck and wrapped around my left thigh. While I did break my wrist, I was basically broken all over. We started out small and I remember doing little exercises like squeezing clay with my left hand (my fingers were weak and I wasn’t able to hold anything with my left hand). Eventually, after a month or two, I was out of the brace and moved up to bridges and walking around with a walker. Ro was great and very positive. I appreciate that since I was at the clinic three times a week. I needed all the good vibes I could get if I was going to walk again.
The biggest result and my biggest achievement was when I learned to walk again. I was wheelchair-bound for about four months and walked on a walker for about two months before I took my first steps completely solo. The day I took my first steps, Ro was standing close to me to make sure I didn’t fall. I think I took a few steps and then sat down and cried. I was overwhelmed. I might have even made Ro cry a little.
When I finished my therapy with CBPT in 2012, I was back on my feet, but still not as strong as I am today. I knew I had to keep doing PT at home, and over the years, I’ve gone back to PT at different clinics. Going to CBPT was the first major step (post-hospital) in my recovery. And now, I’ve even climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro! I now live in NYC so I’m always on my feet, but I remember the difficult journey it took to get there. CBPT will always hold a special place in my heart. There are only a few people in the world that get to witness your first steps. As a child, my parents witnessed my mine. And more than 20 years later, Ro and the staff at CBPT witnessed the second go-around at my first steps.
