Below are a few patient testimonial videos about Restore FX. Click on each video to see what our patients say about the program.
Reagan talks about his experience at Restore FX and how the program helped him return to working two jobs.
Colleen reflects on how the Restore FX program has changed her life.
Manuel reflects on how the Restore FX program has changed his life. (Spanish)
[Click Here To Watch More Patient Testimonials]
A patient graduation speech:
Well, I have been anxiously waiting to graduate, but I never expected to have to give a speech. A month ago, I would have not been able to do this, so bear with me. Here goes….
My life has been filled with a lot of trials and tribulations, and each and every time, I have picked myself up and dusted myself off and started all over again; and for the most part, grin and bear it.
My life has also been filled with many blessings as well. One of those blessings happened when I started here at Restore.
See, I thought I was all alone in dealing with my chronic pain. I was used to it because I have no family, I am a widow, and I only have a hand full of close friends. So, the way I dealt with it was to withdraw from everything and isolate myself and suffer with it quietly in my own place. But I no longer do that thanks to all of the people here at Restore FX. The first day I started here was the first day of a new beginning of my life. Thanks to them, I have come out of my shell and accepted my pain and have been given the tools and skills to help me manage my pain. I still have good days and bad days, but for the most part, they have been good days now. And not only that, for as I walk away from here today, I walk away with a new outlook on life and a new family (my Restore family), and I have also met a lot of new friends that have the same problems as I do.
So, in closing, I leave you with this: keep an open mind and soak in all the tools and skills they give you to help you manage your pain. It has helped me and made me a stronger person. I no longer isolate myself and withdraw from the world and my friends. I also no longer ruminate on my pain. I have accepted and befriended it so much so that I can clearly focus on the finer things in life such as living life to the fullest, my new found family, my Restore family, and all my friends I have met here as well.
I want to thank everyone here at Restore from the bottom of my heart. Thanks to all of you all, this has been one of my blessings that will help me live life to the fullest. And when my pain flares up, I will be able to handle it. And to all my new friends I have met here, thank you for accepting me for who I am. I will always cherish and be grateful for everyone here.
And as I leave here today, I want to leave you all with this: Remember this life isn’t about how you weather the storm, but how you dance in the rain.
– Colleen C.
A patient story:
The Ladder
It all started with a ladder.
I have been in the Voice and data cabling industry for 21 years. I’ve worked on jobs large and small in the Austin area. The last two big jobs I worked on were cabling the HP data center and at a local college campus….
It was a normal day. We got a lot done, ran the cabling for a whole floor. I was finished and heading down the ladder to pack up my tools and go home. My boot got hung on a rung and I fell back. I woke up with EMS putting me on a stretcher….
Hospital, doctors, insurance companies. Next thing I knew I was laying in bed after 12 hours of sleep so tired I could not move the covers off of me. It was 8 months later and the pain was still with me every day. The meds would take some of it away but they would take even more of me away.
I was to the point where I thought I would never work again. I was afraid of ladders and would break out into a sweat just by being near one. I was worried that the insurance money would stop any day. I would be the first one to say, “Suck it up, get a job.” However, I was so tired and I could not face my friends, I was ashamed that I was not the man I always was. I had withdrawn from family, friends, business contacts.
Then I was at my doctors, and he told me about a program that he thought would help me – Restore FX.
Restore FX
I went down to talk to them. I had my doubts, but decided to go to keep the insurance checks coming for another month. I sat there and learned that it was an 8 hour a day 5 days a week program. Wow, I did not know if I could do it. My arm was so messed up that I could not drive my SUV so I would have to take two busses to get there and two busses to get back. I decided to go for it because of the money but ended up getting a lot more that the weekly checks, I got my life back.
I think the reason it lasts 8 hours a day was to show us we could get up, get dressed, go somewhere, and be around people. This program included occupational therapy, physical therapy, group therapy, one-on-one therapy, yoga, and nutrition.
I really wanted to get over this fear of ladders, my dark secret. In group therapy, one of the first things you learn is you’re not alone in how you feel–the fear, the depression, the pain. You’re in a room with people who are going through the same as you, the stories they tell sounds like your story. Once a week, they have Family Group, you bring in family and you find out how your pain affects them.
In occupational therapy, you sit down, make a budget, and really find out what you need. You explore your vocational options, work on a resume, cover letter, interview skills, and search and apply for jobs. Sometimes you apply for jobs that you realize you can do that you’ve never done before or jobs that may pay less than your previous job, but at least, you are back in the game.
In physical therapy you start to work out, they design a workout for you depending on what you injury is. A light workout at first and as the days go by they push for more.
Then there is Yoga, you think they are crazy! You think to yourself, “Yoga, you can barely get down on the floor and they want you to do yoga. For an hour!” However, it is part of the program, so you try. I want to tell you for a person who will have back pain for life: yoga is the best thing for you. Above all else, it will show you that you can be normal, feel normal.
One-on-one therapy lets you let go of many things that you have inside you that you cannot or will not share. Through one-on-one, I was able to deal with my fear of ladders. I found out what was really the problem and defeated it.
My Life Now
I now work full time in a data center. Monitoring backups for a major corporation. We do the backups for all of their data across America, Canada, and Porto Rico. A sit down job that I had to learn, but a job I like. I also do part time work for a small cabling company doing sales and dealing with the customers.
Look at me, from where I was to now, having two jobs.
If I would not have completed the Restore FX program, I would have been living in my brother and sister in law’s garage and sinking deeper and deeper.
When you go through the program, you may not agree with everything they teach, but if you just take from it what you need to get back your life, then you have won…
And winning feels good.
– Reagan M.