What did you like best about being a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)? There are so many aspects of being an NICU RN that I loved, it’s difficult to choose just one. I love nursing, infants & teaching. During my NICU career, I was able to use all of the skills I […]
2018 Memories
It’s been 8 years since I founded The Manual Touch Physical Therapy. Traditionally, I write a year-end blog post, and the past couple of years it’s looking more like the annual family newsletter friends and family send around the holidays. I thank you in advance for allowing me this indulgence for sharing my favorite memories, […]
Important Update: No RX Required for Physical Therapy in Illinois
Until recently, Illinois and Texas were the only states that still required a person to obtain a doctor’s prescription for physical therapy. In August 2018, the State of Illinois passed a new law stating that physical therapists now have direct access. You can read the exact law here. What does “direct access’ mean? It […]
Transitions and Achieving Success
If you have children or are a student yourself, August is a time of transition. My husband and I are entering our last transition of “back to school” with our son, Drew. He is entering his senior and final year at the University of Illinois (U of IL), after completing a summer internship at Garmin […]
My Running story
Over the years, my daughter Jenna would often say, “I don’t have a passion for anything.” And I would say to her, “That’s ok, everyone finds their passion at different times.” Now, at the age of 24, she has discovered a passion for food — the cooking and eating of flavorful dishes with interesting spices. Even […]
9 Tips to Avoid Shoulder Pain
Betty had constant shoulder pain. Her shoulder hurt doing just about anything — opening doors, sleeping, putting on her seatbelt, and even while sitting in a movie theater. As Betty is 81 years old, she and her doctor did not want her to have surgery for her torn rotator cuff.
Meet Our Acupuncturist, David Derdiger
Acupuncture and other Chinese medicine techniques are a wonderful adjunct to Physical Therapy or as a stand alone treatment to promote healing, improve health and get people back to doing the things they love to do. So, when I received an email from David Derdiger, an Acupuncturist/Chinese medicine practitioner requesting to rent a room, […]
Meet my Mom: Our Front Desk Employee
I’ve been told getting a good front desk person is the most difficult hire of any small business. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to search far for just that perfect person, my mother. As she only comes in once a week, not all of you have met her, but those of you who have, […]
Little Highlights of 2017
As I write my year-end column and reflect back on 2017, I realize there was very little in the news that made me smile, only tragedy after tragedy both nature-made and people-made. My own life had no major life changing events either — no marathons, weddings, or graduations to report. As a result, I had […]
Client Spotlight: Don Reck
Why did you begin building birdhouses? When I retired over 10 years ago, I needed a hobby, something I could do in a man cave. So, I began making birdhouses and bird feeders as I love birds, particularly the blue jay. Their blue color streaked with white is so beautiful. For my backyard I made […]
Special Kids Foundation
August in Chicago is a time for summer fun with numerous activities such as festivals, concerts, the beach, biking, running or kayaking the Skokie lagoons. Every August, for me, is when the Special Kids Foundation (SKF), a board that I’m on, meets to determine the grant recipients of the year. The SKF offers grants to […]
Senior Women Walk Across America Inspiring Others to ‘Accomplish Big Goals’
Two years ago, while visiting my daughter in Tampa to run the Gasparilla half marathon, we had a chance encounter with three amazing senior women. Before running the half marathon, we picked up my race packet from the expo and then stopped by a Starbucks. While standing in line for coffee, we met three senior women, […]
Finding your Path
In May, my daughter, Jenna, graduated from the University of Tampa and is one of the lucky ones to already have a job post-graduation. However, this is not unexpected, as she took full advantage of her time while in school building connections, seeking out mentors and having paid internships since the beginning of her sophomore […]
Transitions
Summer in Chicago is a time to celebrate warm weather with numerous outdoor activities filled with festivals and concerts to help us forget the long winters. But, in our house, summer means its Triathlon season for our son, Drew. Drew has been doing triathlons since he was 13, when he fell in love with the […]
Patient Spotlight – Joan
How did you start “Joan’s hiking buddies”? When I retired in 1999, I didn’t have enough friends to support retirement. So, I joined hiking groups, but after a few years I realized I wanted more than their scheduled events, so I started my own group, Joan’s hiking buddies. I regularly email a newsletter to about […]
CHANCE ENCOUNTER IN TAMPA
Did you ever have a chance encounter with someone that absolutely brightened your day and brought life into such clear focus? Well, my daughter and I had such an encounter recently, not with just 1 person but with 3 gray-haired, very athletic, healthy looking women, while standing in line at the downtown Tampa, Florida Starbucks. […]
Intention
The holiday season signals a time to begin reflection of the past year and set intentions for the new year. At the end of a networking meeting I went to last week, each of the attendees stated their intention for the next meeting, which also happened to be for next year. As others expressed their […]
Recent News – October 2014
I hope everyone has been getting outside and enjoying our fabulous weather the past few months. I know I have. I am now going on 3 solid months of painfree running 3-4x/week! Yeah – so grateful! Although I enjoyed my newfound cross training activities of swimming and biking, I just don’t get that “runner’s high” […]
Recent News – June 2014
After the long winter of 2013-2014, Chicago has returned to its usual state of confusion, is it spring or is it summer? I finished rehabbing my left peroneal tendonitis last Thanksgiving successfully and returned to running for the past 5 months, only to be derailed 3 weeks ago with right achilles tendonopathy. As I can’t […]
Reflections, Gratitude, and Community Events
This time of year is always a time of reflection, gratitude, and joy. As I look back on 2013, it has been a very successful year at The Manual Touch (TMT). TMT is now 3 years old and has found its identity and vision. Not only do I continue to use all my skills to […]
