From Walker to Walking: David’s Success Story

By, Allison R. Weder

A fall left David Huff in severe pain and unable to work. David recalls what happened. “I was leaving work for the day, and the entrance was a set of concrete steps. I slipped right at the top of the steps, and I went tumbling down the steps headfirst.” David tells people he broke his neck. “I guess, technically, it wasn’t a broken neck, but it was about as close as you can come without physically breaking it. The doctors have a fancy way of putting it. I guess I twisted it in a way that the nerve that runs up through the middle of the spinal column, was pinched off.” David underwent surgery, spent a month in the hospital and then another month completing inpatient physical therapy. “It was intensive physical therapy. It definitely did a lot for me.”

Once the time came for David to leave inpatient PT, a decision needed to be made about where he would go for outpatient PT. His Workers’ Compensation team suggested a facility associated with his outpatient clinic. But David was immediately concerned. “I went from getting three to four hours of physical therapy a day to 25 to 30 minutes two days a week. Within a few weeks I could tell that I was actually backpedaling. I asked if I could have another day added to my schedule, and they said, ‘Nope, that’s not our policy.’”

David knew he needed to advocate for himself and find a new facility. His wife saw great results at Phoenix Physical Therapy in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. David got to know the Clinic Director, Chris Herbster, PT, and the Patient Care Coordinator, Barbara Brandau, during her time there. He reached out to Barb and said, “OK, Barb, this is the situation, what can you and Chris do for me?” Barb reached out to David’s Workers’ Compensation team to discuss transferring his care to Phoenix PT. David was relieved to get Barb’s next call. “Within a day, she called me back and said they could get me in three days a week. She said she didn’t know exactly how long (the sessions) will be, but Chris estimated probably ninety minutes. And I knew I would improve just having more time.”

David instantly felt comfortable knowing the Phoenix PT Lewisburg team was on his side. “It made me feel really good. The funny part is, because of already dealing with them and talking to them when they were seeing my wife, I wasn’t surprised. I knew Barb was going to give me that level of care.” And Chris did as well. “I’ve had physical therapy over the years, you know, and I’m no spring chicken. I’ve been in multiple facilities at different times in my life, and I will say that Chris is definitely one of the best physical therapists I’ve ever dealt with.”

David began working with Chris, knowing it would be a long road to recovery. The journey began with an evaluation. “There was a lot of assessing what I was able to do versus what my goals were. My goal was to be able to walk and function pretty much like I did before the accident. When I first went in there, I was very dependent on a walker. I could get around very short distances with a walker.” Chris created an individualized plan for David that included leg strengthening exercises and core stability training. “We were doing arm exercises at that point too, to get some of the strength back in my arms knowing that I am relying on a lot of that weight being on the top of the walker, not on the legs. My legs weren’t trustworthy at that point so there were like four different leg exercises. And he had me lay on the bed and do trunk rotations and something he calls clams.” Clam exercises strengthen the hip abductor muscles. They are performed lying on one side with the knees bent and stacked, and the top knee is lifted while keeping the feet together. 

As David progressed, Chris would adjust and modify his therapy plan. David struggled with depression and sometimes found it hard to keep going, but Chris always found a way to motivate him. “I had good days and bad days when I’d go in there. I’d not necessarily want to participate or just be in one of those moods. But Chris found different ways to help, just kind of being a goofball and cheering me up and reminding me of what my goals were. I can’t say enough about Chris. I don’t think with any other physical therapist, I would have ever improved as much as I did.”

And David did improve! “We went from the walker to a hemi-walker which was kind of a big step. A hemi-walker is like a half walker, kind of in between a cane and a full-blown walker. Then, one day, we were going out of the house, heading to physical therapy, and we were starting to go down the ramp. I have railings on the ramp, so I make sure I have a hand placed on them. I had my walker in one hand and my daughter grabbed it and ran down the ramp with it. She turned around and said, ‘I know you can do it without holding on to anything.’ I started down the ramp without the walker, just me and the railings if I needed it. I didn’t even touch the railings. I went down the ramp unaided, under my own power. My wife burst into tears.”

David told Chris about his milestone accomplishment. Chris felt that meant David was ready to graduate to a cane. David trusted Chris. “I said, ‘You’re the therapist. You’re the boss. I’m going to do whatever you tell me to do.’ And we started wobbling around with the cane. I was actually doing better than we thought I would. And we did get me to a point where I could walk, not necessarily great, but I was able to get to the point where I could walk unassisted. I was even to a point where I could go up steps, no hands, just legs.”

David worked with Chris for nearly a year. He was happy with his progress but still hopes for more. “My goal is to be as close to normal as I can get. I’m not there yet.” But he is confident he will be and is grateful for the team at Phoenix PT Lewisburg. “There were several times, either because the weather was bad or there was ice out there in the parking lot, Chris walked me out to the car personally. Chris definitely does care. There’s no doubt, he definitely has the patient’s best interest at heart. I feel good about how much Phoenix helped me. It was like a team effort. It wasn’t where I just went in and did whatever I was told. I mean, I was allowed to have some input.” Chris was proud of David and knows he will achieve anything he wants. “He was very determined from the outset and the first time he came into the clinic he barely made it in using a walker. He currently walks with a cane or no assistive device at all and drives himself and his family everywhere they go. Dave is determined to get back as much strength and function as he possibly can.”

David’s daughter, wife and sister have all been patients at Phoenix PT Lewisburg. He considers the team family. “It was nice because, I mean, I got, to know Chris, good enough going in there. It was almost like going in to visit my buddy.”