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John Chmura has been a patient of Integrated Rehabilitation Services for many years since our clinics were first established. While on a cruise in St. Maarten in December 2014, John injured his right shoulder while attempting to get on a catamaran. When he returned home, his orthopedic surgeon told him he would need to see a physical therapist to heal.
Without missing a beat, John said he wanted to go to Integrated in Suffield. On December 22, 2014, John met Melissa Morin and Michael Bidwell.
“That day my life turned a corner for the good,” John says. When John discovered that he needed total shoulder replacement surgery, he had Michael push him especially hard to prepare him for his next cruise in October 2015.
Three days after his surgery on April 21, John returned to physical therapy. To check his range of motion, Melissa had to take John’s right arm out of the sling and move it up and around gently. He looked at her and said, “I trust you.”
John continued to see Michael three times a week to increase the range of motion in his arm.
“In my mind I had a picture of the catamaran in St. Maarten and every day, thanks to Michael, progress was made,” John says.
Three months later, John’s surgeon cleared him to continue his PT exercises from home. He saw Michael for the last time on July 22, 2015. John continued to do the exercises that Michael had printed out for him at home until the day before he left for his cruise on October 21.
While in St. Maarten, John took the same excursion on the same catamaran that he injured himself on 10 months earlier and was able to pull himself up the ladder on his own.
“I had the crew make a video of me getting out of the water. As I pulled myself out of the water, I was so happy and said ‘thank you Michael and Melissa’ over and over.”
John praises the staff at Integrated, saying that he will continue to make referrals.