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| Sue
Bullock, of Canton does a range of motion exercise with Brittany Wieszczyk, a physical therapist at Maplewood Health Care & Rehabilitation Center in Canton. |
CANTON –
Referring to herself as a “graduate,” Sue Bullock, of Canton looks back on her
physical therapy experience at Maplewood Health Care & Rehabilitation
Center as a positive one, noting she can do things now that she couldn’t even
do prior to her injury.
Ms.
Bullock, who broke her shoulder in three places this past spring following a
fall while going out to eat with some friends, said she didn’t even realize her
shoulder was broken until the day after her fall. “I woke up in the middle of
the night in so much pain, I called my daughter and had her bring me to the
hospital,” she said.
X-Rays
were taken and surgery was discussed, but ultimately Ms. Bullock elected to
treat the injury through rest and therapy. “The doctors told me that even if I
had surgery, I could still have a limited range of motion, so I opted not to do
that,” she said, adding she began attending physical therapy three times per
week this past May.
“The
first time I came here my arm was in a sling so I couldn’t move it, but it’s
not any more, and in fact, I can do things now I wasn’t able to before,” she
said. “It was slow for a little while, but for the last five or six weeks of my
treatment I could feel improvement every time.”
While
Ms. Bullock was seeing Physical Therapist Brittany Wieszczyk three times per
week, therapy wasn’t just limited to her time at Maplewood. “They gave me some
great exercises that I could do at home,” she said, adding that she still
continues doing the exercises at home even though her therapy concluded in
October.
The
need to do exercises at home is something that Ms. Wieszczyk said some people
may not realize until they end up in a situation similar to Ms. Bullock’s.
“Almost every patient who participates in physical therapy receives exercises
customized to their diagnosis to help them succeed with rehabilitation,” she
said. “I always tell my patients that a large component of how much they
improve is based on what they do at home when they are not in physical
therapy.”
In July
Ms. Bullock’s therapy was reduced to two times per week, making the exercises
at home even more important. “People only attend therapy a few times per week
for an hour at most, so what they do at home is up to them,” Ms. Wieszczyk
said. “Sue did an excellent job with her home exercises and we reviewed them at
each session. She has made a great recovery.”
When asked
to describe her therapy experience Ms. Bullock said, “It was fabulous. Everyone
is so kind. After coming in just a few times, it becomes like a family,” she
said. “I’ve told my doctors they should send people here.”
For
further information on therapy services at our Maplewood Campus in Canton call
(315) 386-4541. To reach our RiverLedge Campus in Ogdensburg, where therapy
services are also offered, call (315) 393-0730. You may also visit us online at
www.unitedhelpers.org or like us on
Facebook.
