O C C U PAT I O N A L T H E R A P Y PAT I ENT SUCCESS SPOTL IGHT
“We are incredibly proud of how far Cristian has come in his rehabilitation in such a short period of time. He has made the effort to make all of his appointments (3 times per week) since the inception of his journey. He now has the ability to not only walk and contain his balance, but to write his name, and feed himself. Cristian is every therapist’s dream. His positive attitude, infectious smile, and determination to recover are what has helped him get to where he is in such a short period of time. Cristian isn’t a stroke sufferer, he’s a STROKE SURVIVOR!” — Amanda Paracat, MS, OTR/L, CHT “As a long time patient myself, I felt comfortable bringing Cristian here to Professional Care Physical Therapy, not only because of the caring, family atmosphere but because I knew that he would receive the best care possible. Cristian began his Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy rehab with Professional Care in January of 2020, after completing his chemotherapy treatments. Although Telehealth was an option during the COVID pandemic, we knew that it was important for us to continue our in-office visits with his therapists. Although an uncertain time, we never felt unsafe during Cristian’s appointments. Knowing that the staff had been following all CDC guidelines, increasing their sanitizing procedures and taking additional measures to protect the patients and employees, gave us peace of mind to continue his rehabilitation.” —Samantha Heise, Girlfriend
When we hear about stroke victims, oftentimes we typically envision that person being in their later stages of life. However, like most illnesses, strokes do not discriminate, especially when it comes to age. ProCare Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy patient Cristian Inoa understands this first hand, as he suffered a major stroke at the age young age of 37. In 2017, Cristian had been encountering seizures caused by a brain tumor and unfortunately, he suffered his stroke during a procedure to remove his tumor. Cristian’s stroke left him with impaired speech, the inability to walk, and no muscle movement in his entire dominant upper extremity. Like many stroke sufferers, Cristian would have to rebuild his strength and relearn the necessary day- to-day life skills needed to survive. With the support of his family and the love and guidance from his girlfriend, Samantha, the choice was made to continue Cristian’s journey to recovery at ProCare.
Like all ProCare patients, a customized design of the proper techniques and therapies was created just for his rehabilitation. His Occupational Therapist, Amanda Paracat began with the use of mirror-box therapy and other exercises to help retrain Cristian’s brain to “find” the proper muscles to work with again so that he could begin utilizing his dominant side for function. This, combined with desensitization and vibration techniques, Cristian began to show signs of muscle activation which led to controlled movement and eventually strength. The focus for Cristian’s rehabilitation now is using Tenodesis, a process where he can learn to control the wrist down into flexion which helps him open his fingers to assist in grasping everyday objects. Although his journey has not been an easy one, in just a few short months Cristian has proven to himself and everyone that knows him that the right attitude goes a long way.
S TA F F S P O T L I G H T MEET DR. SARAH GEARY, PT, DPT
school, Sarah volunteered to travel to Guatemala to provide physical therapy services to those in need of healthcare. She traveled to multiple cities in Guatemala in which she worked with young kids with developmental delays in a school setting, the general population in an outpatient setting, and even provided home-care services to those unable to leave their homes. Outside of physical therapy, Dr. Geary has participated in many sports growing up including, soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball, and dance. She was a part of the dance ensemble team and club soccer team at Sacred Heart University for all four years as an undergraduate and went on to become the coach of the Girl’s Club Soccer team while she attended graduate school. Sarah hopes to get back to coaching soccer in the near future with a special interest in participating in ACL injury prevention programs.
Dr. Sarah Geary, PT, DPT, grew up in North Babylon, NY and received her Bachelor’s in Exercise Science with a minor in Geriatrics at Sacred Heart University. She continued her education at Sacred Heart to receive her Doctorate in Physical Therapy. Dr. Geary has a great appreciation for advancing her knowledge and clinical skills through continuing education, current evidence- based practice, and attending lectures fromworld- renowned orthopedic surgeons. Dr. Geary has been a member of the American Physical Therapy Association since 2014, as well as being a member of the New York Chapter, Orthopedic Section, and Sports Physical Therapy Section of the APTA. She enjoys treating all-ages in the orthopedic setting with specific interest working with high school and collegiate athletes as well as patients with knee, ankle/foot, cervical/ lumbar spine, and shoulder injuries. While in PT
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