Work never stops for Elaine Goss. As a small farm owner and a long-time employee of the state of Tennessee, Elaine is always on the go. However, in August of 2015, Elaine’s work came to a screeching halt when a truck unexpectedly swerved into her lane as she was on her way to town. The head-on collision caused Elaine’s car to roll over an embankment. Thankfully, Elaine walked away from the crash, but two major injuries rendered her unable to continue with both her farm work and her work with the state.
The impact of the crash left Elaine’s left arm broken and caused a bulging disc in her neck. With these injuries, surgery was unavoidable. Elaine underwent surgery on her shoulder and arm that November but suffered from complications shortly after. Her arm and hand completely contracted, and she couldn’t move or wiggle her fingers. Alarmed, she went to her doctor for answers, and during the visit, Elaine’s physician referred her to physical therapy. Elaine knew about a PT Solutions clinic close to her home, so she decided to call and make an appointment right away. Looking back, Elaine says that this was the best decision she ever made.
When Elaine first walked into PT Solutions, Mandy, an occupational therapist, greeted her. Mandy walked Elaine through an initial evaluation and asked what Elaine’s goals were for therapy. Elaine mentioned she would love to have full function back in her hand and be able to lift her arm above her head. On this first visit, Elaine couldn’t even dry her own hair, much less lift the heavy feed bags for the farm.
Mandy went straight to work on Elaine’s left hand. “If you could see me then compared to how I am now, you would see that it has been an actual miracle,” Elaine said.
As Mandy began to work with Elaine twice a week, she realized that Elaine was in need of ongoing therapy. Elaine was slowly able to straighten her fingers after time spent on working the muscles in her hand and arm. Mandy then worked on building strength and gaining motion in Elaine’s shoulder. Mandy was even able to help determine that Elaine was also suffering from complex regional pain syndrome, something even her doctor was not aware of at the time. Soon after this discovery, they were able to treat it.
While Elaine’s therapy was initially budgeted for only three to four months, Elaine has become a long-time patient of PT Solutions due to other complications from the accident. Although Elaine missed out on a few special life events while she was hurt, such as being able to hold her newborn niece, she is looking forward to holding the next baby in the family, all due to the work of Mandy and PT Solutions.
“I’ll say this again and again: it has been a miracle that I found Mandy and PT Solutions. I went from not being able to even drive to now being able to move my hand and shoulder. I was able to return to work fairly quickly to the state, and because of PT Solutions, I didn’t have to miss out on the benefits of retirement as I am nearing my 30-year mark with the state of Tennessee,” Elaine said.
Although Elaine isn’t able to lift heavy farm materials just yet, she is thankful PT Solutions was able to work with her and her schedule. “Mandy was willing to see me late in the afternoon for our appointments. This way, my husband was able to get off work and pick me up since I wasn’t able to drive at the time. The staff at PT Solutions truly helped me in my recovery in every aspect from their knowledge, their customer service, and the way they encourage you.”
If you or a family member has a limited range of motion due to an arm injury, PT Solutions can help in your recovery. Call us at 1-844-REHAB04 or visit one of our clinics today.
