Why Pelvic Floor PT as a career???
Why Pelvic Floor PT as a career???
In honor of October being National PT month I wanted to share my journey to landing in the specialty of pelvic floor physical therapy.
Stick with me here, we’re starting back at the beginning.
During my senior year of high school my dad had a brain tumor. He required surgery to remove the softball size tumor, and after surgery was paralyzed on the entire right side of his body. He required extensive physical therapy to recover. He had to stay at the hospital and in an acute rehab setting for about 1.5 months before he could return home. My sister and I got to visit him on the weekends because the hospital he was at was an hour away from our house. Two of the only things my dad found joy in at the time were seeing my sister and I, and his therapy sessions. He would be happy talking about his therapists and the progress he had made. I remember distinctly one day when we visited he told us “I snuck into an extra PT session today” with pride and joy. He was able to make an impressive recovery and return home. After seeing the impact his therapists had on his overall wellbeing I knew I wanted to pursue this career path.
The bottom line is, I decided to become a physical therapist to help people. I think that’s why most of us choose this profession. To help people heal and gain back their independence.
I’ve worked in many different settings with many kinds of patients. I mostly recently worked in acute care physical therapy seeing patients in the hospital. The patients I worked with could have several ailments, or one specific problem. They were all unwell to various degrees and weren’t always excited to see the “physical torturist”. This job was mostly that, a job.
I told my husband for years I just hadn’t found my calling yet. I hadn’t figured out exactly what I was supposed to be doing to make this world a better place. I kept searching for what I could put my heart into; what I felt passionate about.
In that pursuit of finding my passion and searching to feel whole, my husband and I decided to start a family. I had my first baby, and he was wonderful. But, I was not. I didn’t know much about the specialty of pelvic floor PT so I fell into the trap of “do your kegels”. This in fact did not help me heal after the vaginal delivery of my son, but quite possibly worsened my symptoms. Initially postpartum things seemed as normal as I could expect them to be, but the farther out I got from delivery the more I suspected something wasn’t right.
My husband and I would go on walks with our new baby, and I loved walks! I loved being outside and moving my body. Then I started experiencing urinary urgency. Which is exactly what it sounds like. When I had to pee, I felt like I HAD to pee… like right then. I was also going to the bathroom “just in case”. I would go every time before our walk and still feel urinary urgency while walking. My breaking point was the day I had to squat outside to pee. And this wasn’t out in the woods, in a semi secluded area. No, this was right in the middle of our neighborhood and I had to find the best cover I could because if I didn’t pee right then I was going to completely pee my pants. When this happened I knew I had to figure out a way to resolve this problem because there is no way on God’s green earth I could continue to live my life this way.
I asked my doctor for a referral to pelvic floor PT and came to Empower Your Pelvis as a patient. When I saw Heather for our first visit, I cried. I realized how overwhelmed and devastated I was because of these symptoms. I was only 30, I had birthed one baby, and I couldn’t participate in exercise or activities I enjoyed because I felt like I was going to pee my pants! Then, she told me I shouldn’t have to experience pain with intercourse postpartum either! And my mind was blown. I dealt with these symptoms for months and I didn’t have to. Heather listened with compassion and prescribed the exercises I needed to rehab my body the right way postpartum.
As I continued working with Heather, I realized how stinking cool pelvic floor physical therapy was and discovered pelvic floor therapy was my passion. It’s what I was meant to do to give back to the world. I started all the continuing education required to transition to this specialty, and told my husband how much of a dream it would be to work at Empower Your Pelvis.
Now, I’m here! Two babies and my own pelvic floor rehab experience later I’ve figured out where I’m supposed to be, and I couldn’t be happier.
Erica Magruder PT, DPT