Kate Furnish
Email: kate@mysanctuarysource.com

The Sanctuary Physical Therapy, LLC exists to help people heal from injury and trauma, recover lost motion, maximize function, and live a pain-free active lifestyle.

Kate Furnish is a physical therapist specializing in John F. Barnes (JFB) myofascial release therapy, having trained with John F. Barnes directly since 2000. She graduated in 1999 from Northern Arizona University’s program in Physical Therapy and has a background in pediatrics and orthopedics. Her undergraduate degree is in Spanish -sí, se habla Español con fluidéz – from Grinnell College, where she was a five time All-American swimmer.

Here she tells what it was like to struggle with back pain:

It was dark and I was running after a physical day of work in my clinical internship. I found myself not only running but also in a wrestling match between trying to do something good for myself and the reality that I was in pain, back and leg pain, with every step. I admitted to myself that I was in pain all the time and scared of further injuring myself yet I kept pushing at the things like running that had kept me going in the past.  When I first injured my back months before, I had initially consulted doctors and professors that didn’t really see much of a problem, I was still strong. They didn’t help me understand what to do except take medicine. The pain had gotten worse and worse and I had tried so hard to figure it out and fix it. It was winning, and I was close to defeat.

After a restless night’s sleep, I woke up and did two things differently. One, I began walking instead of running for exercise. Two, I asked my clinical instructor for help. With her guidance, I eventually received 3 epidural steroid injections to decrease the inflammation and pain in my back and down my nerves. It did work. The constant pain abated. I diligently did physical therapy and learned how to stabilize my core. I learned about my profession from the other side.  I felt my life was back. I was still cautious about sitting too long or moving certain ways and my back would go “out” fairly regularly so I kept anti-inflammatories at the ready. But I was active again, I wasn’t in constant pain, and at a place I could live with this.  I believed this was as good as it would get.

I moved on to graduate, pass my boards, and begin my first PT job. Ready for some needed down time, I took a Spring Break vacation.  I was skiing on a beautiful blue sky day in Taos, New Mexico. The snow was blindingly white, and the texture perfect. Crossing between runs, I saw a clear path between a person stopped and a tree.  At the last second, the person turned and cut in front of my path.  I swerved to avoid them and hit a tree, hard – like 30mph hard.  I was immediately unconscious.  My husband up ahead heard the sound and stopped to wait. When I didn’t appear, he came uphill back to me.

When I awoke in the hospital, I learned that I had shattered my left elbow, broken my pelvis in six places, cracked a couple of ribs, lacerated my spleen, and that I was pregnant.  I was most excited about the pregnancy.  I made a conscious decision that this event would be a miracle in my life.

I underwent elbow surgery.  I lost a baby.  I somehow made it through the journey home to my daughter.  It was weeks before I could get in and out of bed by myself. I got a new definition of down time.  I began physical therapy while I was still using a wheelchair. The PT was excellent, but it focused only on my elbow and I was aware there was more of me that needed attention.

I began to investigate JFB myofascial release for my own healing. I had a couple of powerful experiences with it in my clinical internships and even though it seemed kind of different than the traditional medical model, its effectiveness held interest for me. I trained in it, and I got treated with it. I got better. My whole body got the attention it needed. And oddly enough my back got better too. It went out less and less. When it would flare, I would get treated instead of taking medications. I learned how to work with my body. JFB MFR was different than the traditional model, it was better – more personalized, comprehensive and effective. Movement got easier and more fun. Pain became an indicator rather than a life sentence. I was blessed with two more children.  Life opened up again.

I am passionate about helping people be at ease within their bodies. I love to help them learn how to listen to and take care of their body to decrease their pain, promote healing, maximize their function, and get back to enjoying life.

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