Personal Narrative: My Second Round Of Physical Therapy

On average, over 6 million people break bones each year in the United States; most of these cases will heal without problems. On August 11 of 2007 I was one of those 6 million people. It was just a normal day, summer was starting to wind down as school was about to begin. I was at a play day rodeo in Dupree for the better part of the day, I won $10 for being the champion of the ribbon jerking event. I was so happy to have received that money! My grandparents decided to have supper at their house for me and we went on our way to go visit them.

Jim Penn is a Physical Therapy Assistant at Medina Regional Hospital in Hondo Texas. My interview with him was extremely helpful in getting information on Assistant Physical Therapists. Prior to this interview I was interested in becoming either a Physical Therapist or an Assistant Physical therapist, however I did not have a lot of knowledge regarding the Assistant position. Jim Penn helped explain the career field and gave a lot of insight to what I should expect regarding schooling and the day to day in the field. I will hopefully be spending a few days this summer shadowing him and the Pediatric Physical Therapist on Staff at Medina Regional.

When that moment came i was running through the town of Waukee, Iowa with my friends. i jumped a fence when i felt and heard that pop. It was a familiar feeling, i remembered it from the first time my ACL tered, i remembered how its the worse pain i have ever felt. i was yelling “Guys, wait up!” as i sat down on the soggy grass holding my knee, thinking “not this again”. i wondered if i would ever fully recover, if messing around was really worth it. I spent the whole night wondering.

“The last thing I heard where the sirens. And the last thing I saw where a kaleidoscope of blue and red. And then everything went black, every ounce of air had escaped my lungs and had reached the surface of the lake in the form of little bubbles.” I told Louis Green, possibly the most boring person on earth. I don’t think he wanted to be my therapist anymore then I wanted to be in therapy.

As I await the therapist in the waiting room, my mind is racing, heart pounding, and palms sweating. I’ve been waiting for three years to meet with him, but of course, Dr. Johnson was completely booked until now. Each night I have been taunted with an atrocious dream and ready for the affliction to cease. Finally, he appears in the doorway and calls my name. Instantaneously, I stand up and shuffle behind the therapist to the cubicle.

“How can I be good again? I just lost my wife and son in a car accident. There's nothing in life that can cheer me up. I have become an alcoholic who is now jobless.” I said. My Therapist, Dr. Newman, told me “Trust me, Mr. Smith. Only time can heal your wounds if you allow it to. Well, that's the end of the session, and I want to recall the accident that occurred so we can talk about it tomorrow.”

I know that you have a background in ballet, but can you tell me a little more about yourself? How did you get into this field ?

In order to generate educational and occupational options for myself, I have looked at many resources ranging from volunteering in person to researching online. I have volunteered at a retirement home with a kinesiologist to determine if I would like that type work, and more importantly, the work environment. I have also volunteered at a physiotherapy clinic and Toronto rehabilitation institute to get a clinical and hospital experience as well. This has allowed me to get a hands on experience at various difference jobs in the field of healthcare. I have also looked at online resources such as research articles, government website, NOC, and DOT. Along with these resources, I have also gotten the opportunity to work at various jobs

As I pulled into the rehabilitation center’s parking lot Monday afternoon I couldn't wait to get inside and feel the breeze of the air conditioning as I escaped from the 95 degree blazing hot weather outside. I was very anxious because I wasn’t sure how this interview would go, let alone if it would happen. I wasn't certain the physical therapist I was going to interview would have time to fit me in. I was up the night before trying to figure out what I wanted to learn from this interview and what kind of questions I would ask. I decided to focus my questions towards the physical therapist I have been shadowing to get to know more about him and his experiences with the job. So far through out my research I have been focusing on the physical therapists and their relationships with patients. I wanted my readers learn more about the person who is caring for these patients and what goes on that patients do not see.

I was hurdling pushing off my leg in mid air and I felt a pop in my right hamstring. I thought I had a charlie horse or something. I fell on the ground holding my hamstring. I was stuck on the ground for a while and the trainer had to bring some crutches down.

As a young athlete, running had always been my least favorite activity. Unfortunately, every sport I played was dependent on that very act. Countless suicide runs and lay-up drills in basketball, and even more base runs in softball, served as a distraction from this mundane activity because at least I was running for a purpose. My brief time on the cross-country team demonstrated that while I may have excelled at sprinting, long-distance running was not my forte; and also materialized by my omnipresent side stitches. However, my senior year of high school came and to my surprise, running would be the one thing I missed dearly. My short time as a starting varsity player in basketball came to an end when I tore my left ACL. A host of changes came from just this one incident. After sustaining this injury and enduring surgery and physical therapy, my career goals took a dramatic turn; I went from an aspiring visual artist embarking to Rutger's Mason Gross School of the Arts, to extremely interested in the field of physical therapy.

My mother always told me that I should appreciate my background and ability to speak two languages fluently. I never really did until I began shadowing at a physical therapy practice the summer after my junior year. When I was in sixth grade, I attended a Career Day event. I was immediately attracted to the Sports Medicine sign up sheet, because I had been involved in athletics through all of my childhood. From that day on, I knew exactly the type of career I wanted to pursue. Over the next few years in school, I was prompted to do some career exploration and research. It was during this time that I decided I wanted to go into the field of physical therapy. I am the type of person that does not make important decisions like this without being

Alongside that, being an athlete, I had the typical sprain of the ankle or weak joint that would I need physical therapy to heal. Consequently physical therapy was not a new or an alarming concept to me. I went to physical therapy for a duration of one year, in terms of my hips. I attended three times a week after my surgery. Rolling my wheelchair in the front door and hearing my physical therapist say my name put a grin on my face that was from ear to ear. Each little milestone was colossal for me, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Transferring from the wheelchair to the walker, then from the walker to crutches, from two crutches to one, then walking, and the substantial one was running. My physical therapist made sure that I understood everything that happened to me and each step that we took in my recovery process. After I completed my physical therapy and could return to sports; if I had any questions or concerns, he was always there. I aspire to be that person for other people. I desire to guide others down the right recovery path, and be their light at the end of the

I was tumbling for my team at a meet in Dallas, Texas. I was on a hard floor and my coach told me to do the best I could do. So I went down the floor and it hurt really bad. It felt as stiff as a board and I didn’t want to try to go down it again. So I had to because my coach told me to push through. I went for it and as soon as my hands touch after the second flip I hear a pop in my arm but I kept on going down the floor. When I got through the pass, I my arm really hurt. Then right after I got a medal, I went to go get my bag from staging and my arm hurt really bad to the point that I could not move it. My dad is a doctor and he took a look. He said that I hyperextended my arm and I would need a few weeks off. That was not what

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see my mom rushing over to me, freaking out as if Jesus himself made his second appearance on earth. Her eyes were the size of saucers and I could have sworn I heard her heart beating a mile a minute. She yelled for the trainer who quickly came running over pushing a wheelchair. When she arrived to where I was laying on the side of the court, my mom stepped back so the trainer could examine my knee. She shakily stuttered, “Okay, I’m not going to put it back in place because I’m afraid to pinch a nerve.” Really. REALLY! Those words were running through my head because I was so frustrated. In my mind, I could deal with a pinched nerve later, I just wanted my knee back where it should be! Her and my mom lifted me up to set me in the