When Kate Martin-Bonhaus first came to us, she was suffering from years of chronic pain and depression. “This winter, I didn’t think I was going to make it out. I was really having to push myself through lots of things…you feel edgy and angry because you hurt. And you’re not really edgy and angry at anyone else, but you’re at an 8 or a 9 and all you need to do is stub your toe and you’re gone. [That pain] shoots to a migraine or something else because you are just sitting at 6000RPM.”
Kate knew something had to change. She scheduled her first PT appointment and got to work, soon deciding to complement it with Massage Therapy and Personal Training. “The home programs have all been so practical, so gradable…when someone hasn’t bent over in 30 years, you don’t start them with 400 toe touches. I can’t do that. Ain’t gonna happen! So Marissa [Physical Therapy] mobilizes me. And Matt [Massage Therapy] mobilizes me. And Adam [Personal Training] reinforces it all. And they talk to each other!”
I feel like music sounds better, flowers are brighter, because you know what? I’m not distracted by pain all the time.”
As a result of all of her hard work, Kate is making real progress. “They’ll ask me what’s hurting on you. Now I can pick a thing. Or I need to work on this. It’s not, ‘everything’s on fire’…I feel like music sounds better, flowers are brighter, because you know what? I’m not distracted by pain all the time.”
She excitedly starts listing out all the things she’s been able to do. “I went dancing two nights in a row with my girlfriends! … I’m going kayaking for the first time tomorrow, now that my scapula’s aren’t frozen porkchops on my back…and I’m ready to take some swimming classes so I can become a lifeguard next year because Enfield never has a lifeguard. Don’t worry, I’ll be covered in Zinc Oxide. You’ll be able to see me from space!”
“I can go through a bazillion activities and tell you they’ve all improved. Seriously! It’s been a whole new experience. It sounds really stupid, but I feel reborn…My doctor told me my depression is in remission…My husband tells me, ‘This is the best you’ve been in years’…And people have gone, ‘what’s happened to you?’ And I go like, ‘I’m in PT!’”
