Haiti Mission

It is time for another trip over to Haiti. October 19-24 both Wade Rinehart and Scott Champagne are headed to Haiti again. Those of you that have been in either the clinic on the beach or in Lynn Haven may have seen our posters about past trips to Haiti. Scott started fund raiser on gofundme.com to try to help the clinic in Haiti. It is very awesome that he and Wade are able and willing to go over there to help those with injuries and to share what they know with the therapists that live there. Read Scott’s post below and then please head over to www.gofundme.com/Physical-Therapy-in-Haiti.
By: Scott Champagne
On January 10, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti leaving in its path ~ 250,000 dead, 300,000 injured and 1.5 million homeless. Reports coming out of Haiti in the days following the quake were of unbelievable loss and suffering as well as the need for medical personnel to assist those with crush injuries, fractures and amputations. In the weeks following the earthquake, I felt compelled to help in a tangible way those who were hurting, little did I know that it would become a calling.
My initial visit was to Fond Parisien where an orphanage was transformed into a primary surgery/rehabilitation site for the central portion of the country. Patients were flown in on military helicopters from Port Au Prince and the surrounding areas for surgery and physical therapy. My assignment was to a row of 10 tents labeled “unattended minors”. These were children who had lost parents, family members and limbs. It was my responsibility to get these children up and moving and to educate them on daily activities to improve their functional mobility.
Subsequent trips back to Haiti over the past 2 years has seen physical therapy become more structured as our “clinic” has progressed from a UN donated tent to a free standing structure in the coastal town of Jacmel. We have joined in a collaborative effort with Community Coalition for Haiti to provide clinical support and training for the physical therapist and support staff in Jacmel. Ongoing therapist training is essential to the growth and development of this mission as we continue to see injuries/pathologies as a direct or indirect result of the earthquake.
My calling is to continue this work. Please consider supporting this mission to facilitate the long term sustainability of physical therapy in Jacmel and the surrounding areas.
Scott Champagne, PT.

The beauty of reaching your goal!This is day two after the 40th BMW Berlin Marathon. My legs are still very sore after successfully completing the 26.2 miles, but it was all worth it! The whole weekend was a big celebration with over 40.000 other runners. The city of Berlin was certainly filled with the running spirit! A special shout out to our very own Brent Holtgrewe, ATC (Sports Enhancement Specialist), who was a big part of my lunch break training.
The soreness will disappear but the experience, the memories, and the medal will stay. Thanks for all of the support! I am a FINISHER!
Simon Haussmann, PTA

 

The marathon is just around the corner and the last several weeks of training have been very difficult for me. In my last post, I explained that it was difficult for me to train in the heat and humidity. Furthermore, injury has been looming around the corner for some time. In the past, I have been treated (by my colleagues here at First Choice) for plantar fasciitis. I seemed to have made quite a bit of progress prior to starting my marathon training, but recently after runs, I have felt tightness in my feet. My plan is to continue to train and implement the stretches I have learned to treat plantar fasciitis. I am still planning to complete the Berlin marathon!
Have you ever experienced tightness, pain, or swelling in your feet? If so, let First Choice be your guide in establishing the correct diagnosis and treatment plan to get you back into your training. Call today for an evaluation.
Simon Haussmann, PTA

 
 
 
 
 
We hope you have never injured your body enough to need a physical therapist, but beyond that we hope that you will consider and even request a referral to us by your doctor if you ever do have a need that we can help with. Our Doctors, assistants and techs watch over the patients in a caring manner that really makes you feel like you have been friends for years. We really do care about you and your health when you need us. Please be sure to browse our web site and learn about us, even before you need us!

If you have been here you have seen our big sign we covered the front entrance window with. Some of you may have already noticed that we have sprinkled 15 Bible verses throughout the images on the sign. These are only some of our favorites. We use others in different areas of the building. For those that have tried to remember the verses mentioned, so that you could look them up at home, here is a list in no particular order of the 15 that ended up on the sign.
Acts 19:11, 1 Corinthians 4:10, Matthew 9:18, Proverbs 13:21, Exodus 15:26, John 4:14, Luke 4:40, Psalm 29:2, Psalm 128:3, Psalm 103:3, Psalm 92:12, Ephesians 2:20, Ephesians 5:19, Isaiah 12:2, and Isaiah 25:9. If you click on the image you will get to look at a bigger version so that you can see where they are all written.

1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

What do you do when you’re this close to a marathon and feel like you have not trained as much as you should have?
1. Get realistic.
2. Do not give up.
I must admit that training for a marathon in the Florida summertime has been a lot harder than I expected. I had a great start into my training plan and worked up to about 35 miles per week. As you can see from my prior blog post, I admitted that I needed a breakthrough. I thought I had it, but as the summer heat and humidity progressed, I found it difficult to continue to train. Instead of using the training plan’s remaining recommended long weekend runs of 20, 22, and 24 miles, I am planning to use the next six weeks and six days to ramp up such that I can get one 18-20 mile training run in before the marathon. Also, since I’m not running to break any records, I might even consider not tapering my distance prior to the marathon to try to increase the chance of getting two longer runs in, build more endurance, and decrease the risk of injury. Regardless, I will continue to enjoy the experience of training for and completing a marathon!
Simon Haussmann, PTA

First Choice Physical Therapy is pulling out all the stops this time. The Bay Education Foundation is having a golf tournament and ALL proceeds benefit the programs of the Bay Education Foundation and directly impact Bay District Schools. It is going to be held on Saturday, August 24th at the Panama Country Club, 100 Country Club Drive, Lynn Haven, FL.
First Choice is the Senior Sponsor which gets our team into the event, we will be the lunch sponsor and the best news is, “We get to have a tent!” We will set up a couple of tables under the tent and players who wish to offer a donation to the Bay Education Foundation will get a good ‘warm up’ stretch from one of our therapists. The perfect way to begin or end a day of golfing fun!

Congratulations to Brent, Stephen and Carrie for finishing the Possum Trot 5k this past Saturday. Carrie was a former patient of ours who was working hard to get back to running. Stephen finished with a time of 33:16. Carrie and Brent both came in third in their age groups. Brent finished with a time of 27:10. Brent thought he had a better chance to catch a possum if he took his shirt off. Congratulations to these guys!