Making a difference, and a connection

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 22, 2016

Making a difference, and a connection

Physical therapist helps a West Bend woman get her life back

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

TOWN OF WEST BEND — Jean Wolff has four kids who live in the area, 17 grandchildren, two greatgrandchildren and two more great-grandchildren due in 2017.

She loves her family.

So, imagine her frustration when a bad bout of influenza and other health issues for several weeks severely impacted her mobility — her ability to see her family.

“It’s a big deal to see my family,” Wolff said. “It was very frustrating because I couldn’t get out.”

Thankfully, there was a solution and a person willing to help her: Michelle Jurena.

Jurena is a physical therapist at Cedar Home, which was recognized earlier this month as a top-performing home health agency by Ability Network and DecisionHealth.

In more than 25 years in the industry, Jurena can’t remember all of her patients. She remembers some. She remembers Wolff and likely won’t forget her.

“She was very motivated to progress, very eager to get her life back and open to do what it takes to get to that point,” Jurena said.

Because of the health issues, Wolff lost about 50 pounds, also taking away seemingly all of the strength in her arms and legs. It got to a point where the 69-year-old West Bend woman couldn’t climb up into her husband’s 2015 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.

“That was awful,” Wolff said.

The first thing Jurena had to do was tell Wolff that what she wanted to do was possible and they would work together to accomplish Wolff’s goal of climbing up into her husband’s pickup truck and see family.

Before that, Wolff had to either take a taxi or not go at all.

“It was very frustrating because I couldn’t get out,” Wolff said.

Gaining the trust of a patient is the most important step in physical therapy. In Wolff’s case, it wasn’t difficult to do that.

Wolff recognized she had a problem and wanted to fix it. She was all ears in her initial consultation with Jurena.

Wolff’s situation was standard, nothing out of the ordinary as far as what Jurena does daily. However, she said the reason she remembers Wolff’s situation and why she likely always will was how they connected. It was on a different level than what she experienced with other patients throughout her career.

“We kind of connected on a more personal level,” Jurena said. “She’s had some hard struggles in life and we could both relate to that. Some people just let you into their hearts a little easier than others and is one of those people.”

How Jurena presented herself and how they were going to tackle the bumpy road ahead resonated with Wolff.

“She’s one of the sweetest people I ever met,” Wolff said. “She knew all the circumstances behind everything. She’s not judgmental. She was here to work with me. I realized what she was saying was for my benefit.”

They met twice a week for an hour at a time. In a relatively short period of time, it was like they became friends of more than 20 years.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though.

“There were times where she thought she was too tired and couldn’t do anymore or she was afraid,” Jurena said.

“With some persistence and encouragement, she did trust me. We had a good rapport. I think that’s what we came down to.”

A few weeks into their workout together, Jurena introduced a homemade step stool and put it by Wolff’s husband’s pickup truck.

Wolff was terrified.

“I didn’t want to get in the truck because I was afraid I was going to fall,” Wolff said.

Jurena remained persistent. Just before Thanksgiving, they tried it again. This time, it was a success.

“That was a big milestone,” Wolff said. “Suddenly, I got my independence back.”

For Thanksgiving, Wolff met with all her family members — 28 of them — and had dinner.

“I got to go with no problem,” Wolff said. “I got to spend the evening with them.”

As a young girl, Jurena went through physical therapy. Then, when she was a junior in high school, she learned physical therapy was something she wanted to pursue as a career.

“I’ve always been kind of nurturer, wanting to help people; I enjoy interacting with people,” Jurena said.

Recently, Wolff reached out to Cedar Home and thanked them, specifically Jurena, for the care she got and the confidence to go about her day-to-day life without any fear.

“It was like God’s blessing,” Wolff said. “I’m like a new person. I can do whatever I want to do.”

To hear this, all Jurena can do is smile.

“I love what I do and that’s part of it,” she said. “I feel great that I can be a part of helping people back to living their life again. It’s very rewarding.”

“It just takes some determination,” Jurena said when asked what lesson can be learned from Wolff’s story. “Willingness to do the work involved and with a good support system and the right tools, you can regain that strength, that function and do the things that are meaningful in your life.”