Round Two: For Better or Worse

[Sarah Frunzi]

I recently had a prior patient return to our clinic post-op after being discharged a few months ago back around November before the holidays. We had done several weeks of treating his shoulder in which we saw great progress. When I had discharged him, he was feeling much better and was sent home with a comprehensive home exercise program to continue working on since he and his wife were about to leave for Florida for a few months for the holiday season. I had not heard from him for a while until earlier last week when I saw his name pop up on our schedule for an evaluation post-op day one. I later found out he had ended up going for shoulder surgery. He was on my schedule for post-op day two and was doing fantastic. When I asked him why he decided to have surgery, he had mentioned that he was doing well for a while and then his shoulder started getting worse again into certain directions with limited motion and pain accompanying it. Initially, I had thought “where did I go wrong for him to get worse?” Then I paused and thought that this sometimes can happen regardless of my treatment, or maybe something possibly happened that he isn’t disclosing. At this point, it really didn’t matter, and all that matters is that he is very pleased with the surgery, his new motion, and his outlook on recovery. He has very little pain, is having a smooth recovery, and his overall demeanor is positive and happy. As his therapist, I can’t ask for much more after surgery. As I was performing manual therapy during his visit and catching up with him, he had mentioned he knew exactly where he wanted to go after his surgery…back to us. He also shared that he recommended to his wife that she come see us because she was having pain as well. He had a good experience in his prior treatment with me, and I am grateful that he trusts me and our company enough to come back for continued care. As I reflect on this case, I think about my initial reaction of blaming myself and my possible negative bias towards surgery despite his positive outcome after having surgery up until this point in his early recovery. Being a newer therapist, I am still learning when to find the appropriate time and place for surgery and reframing my thoughts around it as not always a failed attempt at PT, or a failure on my part, but viewing it as the next best course of treatment for my patients in those cases where it truly is appropriate. This patient clearly perceives me and our company as knowledgeable and trusts us with his care to not only come back after surgery, but to recommend his wife see us as well. He also was kind enough to ask how I have been doing and remembered that I was in residency and also asked me about how my CrossFit training was going. I built a deeper therapeutic relationship with this patient more than I had realized at the time of his discharge back in November. I am grateful that he entrusts me with his care again and look forward to working with him, getting him “better than baseline.” Here’s to round two!

[Author]

Posts