Patient testimonial: LeAnn K.

I had been working for the US Postal Service for over eighteen years, but then I had a back injury at work.  The treatment for the injury consisted of four month of physical therapy, but I made no progress with that.

At first I had doubts about UBC.  I didn’t know UBC existed, nor did my physical therapist.  I didn’t know what UBC was about.  Initially I thought, “What good would this do me?”  But I found out that it’s not just the UBC program that helps, but there are a bunch of nice people working here to help everyone get through it.  When I walked into UBC the first day, I was greeted by a big smile and “hello” from the receptionist, which really impressed me. 

The saying goes, “You get wiser the older you get.”  But I say, “I got wiser at UBC.”  I learned so many things here:  how to deal with pain and stress; how to pace myself; how to be positive; and how to relax to lower my pain level.  The UBC program could have seemed hard, but all the encouragement helped.  UBC focuses on improvement.  The staff helped me to get better and stronger, yet they didn’t ask me to do more than I could handle.  The staff and I figured out what seemed to be my problems, and then we worked together.

In the medical classes I learned about muscle physiology, anti-oxidants, and the rationale behind the mechanism of pain.  We had a great time in class.  I talked a lot.  I’m going to miss those classes!  Dr. Sinclair, I am going to miss your sense of humor.  Thank you for your advice and all your help.  But mostly, I learned from Dr. Sinclair that a person will feel worse before she gets better because the brain can’t tell the difference between pain from muscle injury and the muscle ache from exercise.

I want to say “thank you” to all the staff here for your support and your encouragement, for doing exercises with me (and never forcing us to do more than we could handle), for teaching great body mechanics, for cheering everyone up, and for keeping us focused on what we are doing.  Thank you to all the occupational and physical therapists.  I am going to exercise until I get the same flexibility as Carol (UBC physical therapist)!

To the nurses, thank you for helping me and teaching me how to cope better with my pain.  I also learned a lot in the psychology classes.  Talking to Dr. Harris was like talking to my father.  I felt totally comfortable talking to him.  Thank you for your good advice. 

I also want to say thank you to the receptionist, Suzanne (a UBC vocational counselor), Susan (UBC administrative staff), and all the other staff here.  Without everyone’s help, I would not have made it.  You guys kept me motivated.  Now I have the right tools to deal with pain, stress, and depression.  I wish more people knew about UBC.

Now that I am graduating, I have three goals.  First I will do more activities that activate endorphins and serotonin.  Second, I will have rational thoughts to beat irrational thinking.  Third, I will be in control of my life rather than the pain controlling me. 

I’m ready to go back to work.  I made improvements at UBC:  I started at lifting just 5-10 pounds, and now I’m up to 30-35 pounds.  I wish I could get back to normal, though, because I know I have the capacity for it.

I’ve never been to a place where people were so friendly.  I wish I could work here!  I want other people to know the benefits of coming to UBC.  Thank you all!  God Bless.