When Cheryl Marks had the bad luck to fall down some stairs and break her right femur, she did get one bit of good fortune: she found Penrose & Associates Physical Therapy. “I am totally indebted to them,” Marks says of the Lacey-based clinic. “They got me back on my feet. I went back to work part-time in March and full-time two weeks ago.”
Marks’s saga was challenging. In mid-November 2021, she headed out for dinner on a dark, rainy night when her walker wheel went down some steps and she went with it. First responders took her to the emergency room. “I didn’t know how bad it was until I saw the X-rays,” she says.
After surgery to repair the broken leg bone, she spent two weeks over the Thanksgiving holiday in the hospital, then was transferred to a rehabilitation center where she remained for a month. Back home, she was in a wheelchair and needed a 24-hour caretaker to help her with daily living tasks. “I was worried I would never walk again,” she says.
Marks says knew she would require follow-up physical therapy right away, especially given her cerebral palsy and her need to use a walker. After some phone calls, she found Penrose & Associates Physical Therapy and made an appointment. She was immediately impressed. “They assessed everything,” Marks says. “They were very thorough. They went above and beyond. They thought about my cerebral palsy and how that would affect my leg. They thought outside the box.”
Marks says Penrose staff really listened to her and analyzed what would get her back to her job with the Washington State Department of Commerce. They developed a plan to help her do tasks such as opening doors, driving a car, and tackling stairs if needed. “I would do everything they asked me to do, and I saw improvement,” she says of the exercise strategy Penrose designed.
Today, Marks no longer needs a wheelchair, is again able to get around with her walker, does not require a caretaker, and is grateful to be back working in her Olympia office. “I can’t tell you enough how great this place is,” she says about Penrose. “I can live my life and do everything I did before. It’s like a miracle that they could do what they did.”
Penrose & Associates Physical Therapy
445 Galaxy Dr. NE Suite 301, Lacey
360.456.1444
info@penrosept.com
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