This is Dave's story...
I am 68 years old. I was sitting at home minding my own business and tried to stand up. Then I couldn't get my balance and fell. I tried to call for my wife and couldn't form the words. So there I lay for almost two hours.

I later learned that what caused me to fall was a stroke. I couldn't move the right half of my body and couldn't say more than a few words at first. Over the next 10 days I worked with the physical therapist and by the time I was discharged I could move everything on my right side at least a little except my right hand.

My doctor said that I would need to go for more physical therapy as an outpatient and wrote the orders for this even before I left the hospital. The therapists worked with me to get my balance back and exercised my entire right side so that I could walk and grasp and lift and dress myself again.

It was hard work but it paid off and now I am even driving again and walk without a limp. The only reminder of the stroke that remains is that my right hand feels clumsy at times and I have to think about what I am trying to do with it.

Physical therapy really helped me.

This is Josh's story...
I work for Cal trans. We were loading 5-gallon cans of paint over a railing on a bridge onto a platform when I felt a popping sensation in my lower back. I continued to work for several hours and felt my back tighten up on me to the point I wasn't able to continue with work.

When I went to the doctor he prescribed some medications and sent me for a brief course of physical therapy to learn some stretching exercises. The physical therapist examined me and then examined me again. The therapist was concerned that I leaned off to one side when I stood and that I had developed some pain down my left leg.

The therapist gave me some exercises to do. But when they did not relieve my pain the therapist sent me back to the doctor and recommended some additional tests. The therapist thought there was a chance that I had damaged one or more discs in my back.

My doctor scheduled me for an MRI and it showed that I had two bulging discs in my spine. The doctor said that I was not a candidate for surgery and sent me back for a longer course of physical therapy to help me manage my pain and to get me in shape to work again.

I have to hand it to the therapists who worked with me. They were patient and persistent with the exercise program and an occasional massage and electrical stimulation to get my muscle spasms down. After five weeks I was able to stand upright and bend and lift up to 40 pounds without any pain. I returned to light duty and will continue to work in therapy until I could tolerate a full day's work without any problems.

I am still doing the exercises that I was given and the therapist suggested that I likely would need to do these for life since I was always going to be at some risk for re-injury. That is a small price to pay if I can work and avoid surgery.

This is Donna's story...
I am a checker at Safeway. During the last Thanksgiving season we worked some long hours and I developed significant pain in my forearm. It's the right one which I use to reach and pull and turn groceries across the price scanner with.

I was sent to the doctor by my supervisor. The doctor sent me to physical therapy. The therapist advised me to take some time off to rest my arm but I said I couldn't take time off because I couldn't afford it. Then the therapist taught me how to stretch my muscles during my work breaks and gave me a brace to wear on my forearm while I was checking groceries.

When I was at therapist appointments they would do a friction massage that really hurt at the time but made my arm feel better afterwards. They also used ultrasound and ice treatments, and I exercised my whole upper extremity to get it conditioned to tolerate the repetitive tasks at work.

The therapy began to work almost immediately and after four weeks I was able to check groceries without any pain. I still need to do the stretches during my breaks or I get tight. They only take 1-2 minutes at a time but still really help.

This is Cassie's story...
In my junior year of high school, I ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in one of my knees during our first volleyball tournament of the year. I also tore my meniscus.

Two weeks after surgery to reconstruct my knee I started rehabilitation. It hurt a lot at the very beginning.

The therapist started by moving my kneecap and bending my knee even before the staples had been removed. The therapist also would use muscle stimulation to get my quads to contract as they should. After about four weeks of therapy, I began to walk without a crutch over some Styrofoam cups. The idea was to get me walking without a limp.

I went to rehabilitation three times a week for eight weeks. Then I was given permission to exercise at the therapy gym on my own as often as five times a week. The exercises I did included bicycling, leg presses, squats, step-ups, and walking backward on a treadmill, just to name a few. I saw the therapist for re-checks about every week for another 10 weeks.

I have some fond memories of rehab and some not so fond. It was a lot of work. I have only good things to say about the results, though, and am grateful for the therapists at rehab. I was able to start as an outside hitter during my senior year and played in every game. That was the most fun I had during my high school years.