Category: Fun & Sundry

We’re really proud of the team we’ve cultivated and built here at SPEAR. Our teammates are truly aligned with the core mission of the organization and lead their lives with purpose and intent.

Sarah Lloyd, PT, DPT and the Clinical Education Liason at our W 44th St clinic, is a shining example of that purpose. Sarah truly enjoys treating a diverse patient population, with the goal of educating and empowering patients through functional movement. She is dedicated to the pursuits she is passionate about: helping patients get back to life, and spending time playing the sport she loves. Sarah is an active professional lacrosse player and currently plays for the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League for the WPLL Command. The team spent their summer season this year competing at games from Virginia, all the way up to Massachusetts!

Sarah started playing lacrosse at age 8 and has carried a great love for the sport ever since. Her collegiate career began at Princeton University, competing as a varsity lacrosse player and serving as Captain during her senior year. She was later drafted by her current team. “I love it because it lets me play the game at a very high level with the absolute best players in the world, but I can still be a physical therapist during the week!” she shares. Sarah has always been an athlete—her first introduction to physical therapy was actually after injuring her ankle playing soccer in high school! She has spent much of her time working with adolescent and collegiate athletes, as well as athletes training for the NFL combine.

While Sarah has a true passion for lacrosse, she also loves that the WPLL is tied to a mission—the league has a WPLL Futures division, which provides clinics and opportunities for middle school and high school lacrosse players, designed to support the growth of girls and women to excel in life. “One of the best parts of being a part of this league is that we get to help with clinics and mold the future of girls lacrosse moving forward,” Sarah says. “We are able to be role models for younger girls to look up to in our sport, something we ourselves did not have while growing up.”

It’s amazing to see our team members so passionate about helping others, through many different avenues. We believe it’s important to always remember our core values in everything we do—Sarah, keep up that incredible SPEAR-IT!

“This month, we are featuring a very special recovery story about our patient, Gina!

Gina has been a yoga instructor for the last 30 years. Working in the fitness field, naturally she understands the anatomy of the body quite well. She couldn’t however, figure out why she was having such extreme pain in her jaw.

“I had complete immobility in my jaw,” Gina shares. “I could hear cracking. I could barely open my mouth, and couldn’t eat properly, either.” Gina visited her dentist in pain. That’s when she found she was dealing with Tempero-Mandibular Dysfunction (TMD); this is when you experience pain in the joint that connects your jaw to your skull (also known as your Tempero-Mandibular Joint, or TMJ).

Gina immediately sought physical therapy treatment in hopes of becoming pain-free once again, prioritizing finding someone who specifically specialized in her condition. That’s when she met her therapist, Shaun Whited, and began treatment at our E 56th Street location. Gina admits, her first session seemed bizarre: “Suddenly I had a stranger with his fingers in my mouth, and manipulating my neck!” Her hesitation quickly dissipated—she noticed she felt notably better after just the first visit. “Shaun was warm, funny and knowledgeable,” Gina recalls. She knew she was in good hands and had full trust in his ability to get her back to life.

The rest of the SPEAR team on the floor proved to be incredibly helpful as well. “Everyone from the front desk staff to the floor team were supportive, enthusiastic, and on top of everything. They were willing to answer any questions I had and were always pleasant—they even recognized me after just the first few visits.”

By the end of her treatment duration, Gina was 100% back to her normal self, making a full recovery. Gina is now fortunately cured of her TMJ issue. “If I had another episode,” she notes, “I would look forward to coming back. If you’re considering coming to SPEAR, you can’t go wrong.”

The duo celebrates their accomplishment atop a mountainside peak

Summertime is often a time that inspires people to get out into the world and make the most out of life. That’s exactly what our PT and Director of Hand Therapy Phaeleau Cunneen did when he set off on a 13-day adventure with his daughter to hike the Dolomites, a mountain range in Northern Italy. The expedition was no easy feat, especially in the middle of an August summer!

The two frequent hikers have embarked on several journeys, from hut-to-hut hiking in New Hampshire, to hiking in the Swiss Alps. On each hike, they’ve met great people from many different countries, all while getting to experience the wonderful natural beauty around them.

Nothing but smiles when you’re surrounded by natural beauty!

“In Italy, we were over 8,000 feet above sea level, so the sunsets were amazing!” Phaeleau says. “We were above the clouds. The next day you get up and hike to the next point. The scenery was ever changing, the views spectacular, and the people warm and friendly.”

For this most recent expedition in Italy, Phaeleau did not need to train, as he knew what to expect from past hikes; however, his experience as a PT proved beneficial: “As both an experienced hiker and a PT, I knew what to expect and how to best prepare. There was some altitude, for example, so we knew we had to be ready for that. We went for almost two weeks, and I had a 27lb backpack in total for the trip, because I knew that carrying weight would be an issue.”

Even though they’re experienced, the trip wasn’t without any obstacles. The most challenging part? Not getting proper directions from the locals! “Sometimes the trail markers were not accurate or non-existent! We had a map, guide/trail description book, and a compass, but it was still very challenging.”

In spite of the obstacles they faced, the trip was a rewarding and successful experience, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life: “It was incredible quality time with my daughter. There was no TV, cell phone, internet, or agenda. Just you, nature, and what you have on your back.”

We love seeing our teammates take on new challenges and accomplish amazing physical feats! These two are true #BacktoLife goals.

You may have noticed our clinics were recently transported back to 1999, with appearances from Ms. Frizzle, Richard Simmons, and all 17 Backstreet Boys. This year, SPEAR continued its 20^th Anniversary celebrations at our annual team-building event, “Picnic in the Park,” (PiP) with a 90s theme.

Each summer, our company comes together to participate in friendly regional competitions throughout “SPEAR-IT” week to stay connected, engage our patients, and celebrate our teammates as we continue to grow.

Company members gathered in the park shortly before the final winners are announced.

Our clinics banded together to submit theme day entries that were put to a vote for our Instagram and Facebook followers. W 44^th Street led our Liberty Region (Chelsea, W 75^th Street, and W 44^th Street) off to an incredible start, sweeping wins all week for Bust-a-Move Monday, TRL Tuesday, What-You-Wore Wednesday, and TV Thursday!

SPEAR’s W. 44th Street Clinic throwing it back to 1999 on “What-You-Wore Wednesday.”

On PiP Friday, our teammates earned points by taking over the streets of New York to challenge passers-by to cabbage patch dance-offs, start a “Friends” theme song sing-alongs on the subway, and hand out free t-shirts. The competition was fierce by the time everyone reached Central Park for lunch and games. Our Gotham Region (30 Broad Street, 70 Pine Street, Penn Plaza, and Murray Hill) pulled ahead after leading everyone through a groovy fitness challenge routine, and our W 57^th clinic had everyone on the edge of their seats with a stadium-worthy final egg toss before bumping Freedom Region (E 56^th Street, W 57^th Street, W 67^th Street, Plaza Hotel, and CityView) up another ten points. Ultimately, our Empire Region (E 84^th Street, Tribeca Park Place, Brooklyn Heights, and Headquarters) brought it home for the ultimate win after racking up over 400 points during the scavenger hunt!

SPEAR-IT Warriors hustling together during our final PiP relay race event.

SPEAR’s “Picnic in the Park” event highlights the positive and supportive culture we build our teams around so that we can uphold our promise to provide patients with the most effective and empathetic care. This year that team spirit was all the more profoundly felt as we remembered one of our most inspiring leaders and late regional directors, Jimmy Olayos, by carrying him with us throughout the day.

“Let’s have a day!” -J.O.

You can check out all our clinics’ SPEAR-it week theme day submissions and some highlights from Friday’s Picnic in the Park on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

Kari Pearce is 4x crossfit  games athlete with a prestigious background in gymnastics. Voted 2016 fittest Athlete, Kari only started crossfit a couple years ago, she has grown to be ranked #5 in the world. On this episode she’ll detail the hard work, effort and continuity that it takes to reach such an achievement!

Enjoy the 3rd episode of the season!