Our CEO, Kelly Green, recently received this very moving letter from one of our patients. We are genuinely inspired by Carol’s journey to the 118th Boston Marathon finish line and we are proud that we were able to help get her there. Below is Carol’s letter.
Dear Mr. Green,
I wanted to take a minute to complement one of your Airrosti Physicians, Mike Heitholt, DC in
the Oak Park, IL clinic.
In 2013 I qualified to run in the 118th Boston Marathon. I was thrilled to be participating in such a special event for Boston, our nation and the running community. I started training with a Boston Marathon training group in December and was logging significant weekly mileage by the end of January in challenging weather and facing the hilliest courses we could find to prepare for Boston.
My training was going well until the last week in March when after an 18 mile run I began to have knee pain and piriformis issues. Thinking I could “will” my way through the issues, I kept running. The first week in April, after finishing the 20 mile culminating training run, the outside of my right knee really became painful…. “willing” it away was not working. During the same week, I came down with an illness that knocked me right off my feet and into bed for five days. I was convinced my chance to be a part of history was over. Between the pain in my knee and the overall fatigue of being sick for five days, I figured there was no chance to recover in time to run Boston. When I finally got back on my feet I went to my gym and tried to run three miles on a treadmill, the pain in my knee was severe. As I was leaving the gym in a state of deep disappointment, I ran into a friend who asked me how my training was going. When I explained the situation, and he saw the despair in my face, he told me how he had also had severe knee pain and had seen an amazing DC who practiced a research based rehabilitative therapy that had worked wonders for him. He gave me Dr. Mike’s name and contact information and encouraged me to call him.
When I got to my car, I called Dr. Mike’s office and got some basic information. I initially made an appointment but called back within ten minutes to cancel it. I found it too hard to believe that such a short series of interventions could make a real difference in what seemed to be a middle-aged runner’s attempt to defy the limits of her body. Later that day, I received a voice mail from Dr. Heitholt. It was brief but encouraging. He asked me to call him so we could discuss what was going on with my knee. What did I have to lose? I called him and immediately recognized that this was not an average practitioner. Dr. Mike listened closely to my description of the location and nature of the knee pain. He quickly ascertained that it was likely an IT band issue that would respond positively to Airrosti therapy and active care. I still felt somewhat skeptical, but based on my friend’s recommendation and intuitive trust of Dr. Mike’s knowledge, I decided to give it a try.
I returned from Boston yesterday after finishing the 118th Boston Marathon in 3:46:22. It is astonishing to me that although my knee wasn’t in perfect shape, it held up at a respectable pace through the 26.2 grueling miles of Boston. I know for certain that had I not received Airrosti therapy from Dr. Mike, I would never had crossed the start line, let alone finish in under four hours. It was an emotional day for me as one of the volunteers told me I crossed the finish line almost exactly at the time the bombs went off the year before. The spirit of resilience, teamwork and oneness was everywhere in Boston on that unforgettable day. But the most important person to help me wasn’t in Boston on that day. Dr. Mike helped me nine days before the race at his clinic in Oak Park. His confidence that I could succeed and his miraculous technique felt like fate propelling me forward to make it to Boston.
Thank you for hiring such a talented, articulate and compassionate practitioner. I tell all my running friends about my Boston training experience and how Dr. Mike saved the day with Airrosti
Rehabilitative Therapy. With Dr. Heitholt’s care I was able to take back the finish for Boston!
Sincerely,
Carol D. T.
