Barbara is a lovely Total Health Choice client of almost two years, who is known for her kind and bubbly personality, hilarious jokes, fondness of good food and even better coffee, and deep love for Michael Bublé.
Even at 84, Barbara is still always on the move with a large family and many friends who visit frequently and accompany her out to eat or to stage shows such as Chicago. This is why Barbara and her family believe that Physiotherapy treatment and exercise is so important – keeping her healthy and active so that she can continue to spend time with her family and doing the things she loves most for as long as possible!
In 2022, Barbara had a fall outside of her home, leaving her with broken glasses and a pair of black eyes. After a short stay in hospital, her nasty fall and serious injury prompted her and her family to seek Physiotherapy treatment with Senior Physiotherapist and Team Leader, Steven.
At their first session, Barbara told Steven that her goals were to improve her balance and walking, prevent another accident from happening, make her legs feel stronger, and be competition-ready for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Throughout their Physiotherapy sessions, Barbara has been working to improve her leg strength and overall balance with exercises such as repeated sit-to-stands from a chair, walking sideways and backwards along her apartment hallways (with Steven’s supervision of course), and various Thera Band and dumbbell exercises. Barbara has her own home exercise program that has been carefully developed by Steven, and while she may not do every exercise every day, she does some exercise every day, which is a huge improvement from before she started Physiotherapy.
After her fall, Barbara had lost her confidence and felt apprehensive about walking outside on her own. She needed a companion for safety, but this meant that when nobody was available, Barbara was stuck inside her apartment.
After almost two years working with Steven, Barbara has been able to improve her walking to the point where she is now strong and comfortable enough to walk outdoors with her 4-wheel-walker all on her own! Also, living alone means that Barbara has worked with Steven to maintain her independence and function at home. She can now hold onto a handrail and walk up and down the stairs, do her own laundry, and make her own bed. She can even walk down to the local shops and buy her own groceries!
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to properly prepare for the 2024 Olympics, but Barbara and Steven are hopeful for the 2028 games…
They plan to continue maintaining Barbara’s improved mobility, independence, and strength through regular exercise and walking, as well as sharing hilarious stories about their lives and families over a cup of coffee and some Tim Tam biscuits.