Candice G was watching her niece’s swimming lessons when she got up and felt a sharp pain shoot down her right leg. It was so intense, she struggled to stand up.
Candice had been dealing with pain in her right knee off and on for two years, but this was the first time she had experienced anything this bad.
Unfortunately, this was her new normal.
For the next three months, everyday tasks like putting on socks, doing laundry or riding the TTC became extremely challenging for Candice due to the pain.
“It felt a lot like I lost the ability to look after myself in a lot of ways,” she says.
Despite her best efforts — which included physiotherapy, ice and rest — her pain remained the same. Eventually, her family doctor referred her to UHN’s Schroeder Pain Assessment and Rehabilitation Research Centre (SPARC) where she finally started to see improvement in her condition.
Schroeder Pain Assessment and Rehabilitation Clinic is an interdisciplinary clinic powered by UHN’s KITE Research Institute that provides comprehensive care for people with chronic pain at UHN’s Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. It also conducts chronic pain research.
Schroeder Pain Assessment and Rehabilitation Clinic is supported by a generous donation from the Schroeder Foundation.
Bethany Spiers, Schroeder Pain Assessment and Rehabilitation Clinic kinesiologist, developed a personalized plan to address Candice’s knee pain that incorporated various mobility and strength exercises.
“What was really helpful for me is my sessions with Bethany allowed me to try movements without fear,” says Candice. “I knew that if something was triggered, there was someone there to help me or to see what was happening.
“She walked me through how to deal with the pain and gave me information I wish I had two years ago.”
‘Working collaboratively to improve the patient’s care’
Bethany says patients like Candice benefit from Schroeder Pain Assessment and Rehabilitation Clinic’s unique interdisciplinary team.
Schroeder Pain Assessment and Rehabilitation Clinic physician Dr. Philip Peng assessed Candice when she first came to the clinic and developed her care plan. Whenever Bethany had any questions about Candice’s condition, she could easily reach out to Dr. Peng, who was just down the hall.
“In other clinics I’ve worked in, patients would complain: ‘My kinesiologist isn’t talking to my doctor, and my doctor is not talking to my physio, and I’m getting, you know, all this conflicting information from all these different people,'” says Bethany.
“At SPARC, everyone is on the same page working collaboratively to improve the patient’s care.”
For Candice, the treatment has been transformative. She recently went to a concert at a venue with many flights of stairs without issue.
In fact, for the first time in a long time, she didn’t even think twice about attending an event.
“Going to the clinic has just improved my quality of life so much and made me feel more confident about things that I can do,” says Candice.
“[My knee] limited the things I could so much, and now I’ve gotten my freedom back.”
No one ever changed the world on their own but when the bright minds at UHN work together with donors we can redefine the world of health care together.
