Sean Reynolds
I owe a debt of gratitude to the folks at Orthopedic Rehab in Whitefish and especially Andrea . Early in 2015 my sister and I had talked about doing something for my upcoming 50th birthday, lets run a marathon of course. Which one…. I’d heard of the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC, so did the research 32,000 runners and 8th most sought after marathon worldwide, plus once a Marine always a Marine.
After signing up I had a little problem, I was lucky if I could walk a ¼ mile because of neck and back pain that I have experienced from old injuries. This is where Whitefish Orthopedic Rehab comes into play, I was introduced to Andrea when a local Orthopedic Surgeon suggested that while I waited to have my neck fused I try P.T. I was told it probably wouldn’t help but may offer some relief till I decided what I wanted to do. So what I’ve learned in the interim is with a few visits to P.T. once or twice a year I get a new lease on life mostly pain free, and I haven’t had to go under the knife.
Now back to the story….when I went to see Andrea the goal was to get me to run a mile. Within four visits I was released, she is a true miracle worker. And I was off and running Forrest Gump style, within a month I was up to six miles, and really thinking I could do this. The Marathon was held Oct. 25 and I was excited to be there, ready or not I was going to do this . With my sister by my side, we joined in the crowd of 32,000 excited/scared runners, with some very motivating speeches about life and running, It’s amazing how much they both have in common. With what we were about to do really struck home when the Commandant of the Marine Corps said “It’s not a race it’s a Marathon, and it’s not about winning but finishing, and finishing well” no truer words spoken and wisdom to live by. Boom the cannon was fired and we were off.
This Marathons route sends you through all the Memorials, the Mall, in front of the Congressional building, and so much more. With One Million spectators that come out to cheer you on and the energy that is floating around I knew that I was going to finish this and finish well. When I crossed the finish line at the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima flag raising ) I knew that I had lots of folks to thank for getting me here. I didn’t do this completely on my own, my lesson in this and I hope others can learn, is even though I’m not a kid and I have been banged around a lot in my life. I want and do live an active life, I am an equipment operator for Plum Creek, not an athlete. I’ve learned that for me to do my job and to live the life I want I have to be proactive in seeking out the proper Maintenance for my health care. For me Whitefish Orthopedic Rehab has done this and so much more, they have allowed me to live the life I WANT, they have kept me off pain medications and away from the knife!!!
PS I did finish well there were 16,000 runners in my division and I was in the top 1000, for me not too shabby.
Thank you and especially Andrea, for giving me a quality of life that I was afraid was lost.
