Today we’d like to introduce you to James Lee Physical Therapist.
Thanks for sharing your story with us James. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in Chicago. My parents came from South Korea in the early 70’s with the classic immigrant story of traveling to find a better life. They met at a church in Chicago, got married and had two girls and then me. Growing up I would climb trees all the time. I’d reach the top and especially on a windy day, the tree would sway back and forth at least 12 inches. That feeling you get when your stomach drops was exhilarating!
I initially went to undergrad (UIC) wanting to be a graphic designer. That dream was short lived after a semester of artistic subjectivity. My logical side couldn’t see a future in graphic design. Not too long after that, I knew I wanted to be a physical therapist. I received my doctorate in PT from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in 2010 and started working in an outpatient orthopedic setting in Arlington Heights.
I saw hundreds of patients who underwent total knee/hip replacement or shoulder rotator cuff surgery. However, something about only treating people after a major surgery just didn’t sit right with me. I wanted to be involved in helping to prevent surgeries from ever occurring in the first place.
My passion for climbing grew even stronger after a PT classmate introduced me to rock climbing. I started off at the Libertyville Sports Complex and within a week I ended up buying my own shoes and harness. It’s incredible how climbing in Chicago has exploded within the past 3 years. There was nowhere near an excitement for climbing 11 years ago as there is now. I love it!
I wanted more knowledge and skills to teach people how they could avoid surgery altogether with precise body positioning and ideal movement. So I completed a Fellowship program in manual therapy from the Manual Therapy Institute. With this skill set and a passion for climbing, I decided to open up my own practice and specialize in rock climbers. Lee Physical Therapy has been up and running for a little over a year now and I am passionate for injury prevention and especially for safe climbing.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A year before starting my practice I started to listen to a lot of podcasts. Names like Jarod Carter, Paul Gough, Karen Litzy had a huge influence on me. I heard a lot of success stories from different physical therapists from around the country starting up their own practices and it sounded very appealing. But no one ever talks about failures. And that was my biggest obstacle, the fear of failure and taking that leap of faith.
During my Fellowship program, I had many part-time PT jobs for flexibility to finish the program. With each job, there came a huge caseload to deal with and every night I’d be exhausted. It finally dawned on me that I had two options. Continue exhausting myself for the big boss or exhaust myself and be my own boss. If all else fails there are plenty of PT jobs I could go back to. So with the biggest encouragement from my girlfriend telling me I have nothing to lose, I took that leap of faith!
I also volunteer at Brooklyn Boulders every Wednesdays with the Adaptive Climbing Group. We help people with a wide range of disabilities climb. I’ve been volunteering with them since they began the program in Chicago about 3 years ago. I also give injury prevention seminars at Brooklyn Boulders and First Ascent so I’ve been very lucky to get to know a lot of people who have referred many patients to me. It’s been rewarding to work with so many people in Chicago.
Please tell us about Lee Physical Therapy.
In 2016 I came up with the model of direct fee-for-service concierge physical therapy. A treatment table is set up and PT is performed in the convenience and comfort of your home. You get a full 1-hour session with the physical therapist and a lot of hands-on manual work done on you. No surprises. No hefty bills in the mail. No demands from insurance companies. The attention is on you and we respect the investment you make for your body. Simply put, you get what you pay for. And there are a vast number of people who realize their current medical insurance providers will not get the quality of care they truly seek.
Physical Therapy should be the first line of choice when it comes to any physical issues with your body. A lot of aches and pains are a result of poor chronic postures that are just difficult to fix on your own. Nagging pains will creep into your body and things may progressively worsen if not addressed early on. Physical therapists are posture and movement specialists who can help educate you with what’s going on with your body and how to maximize your full potential to thrive in all sorts of activities.
I will still be traveling to people’s houses in the new year. But if everything goes according to plan, I anticipate opening up a physical location in the beginning of 2018. This will reduce the amount of me traveling and I will have more time for patients. Also one of my passions in life is climbing. So I will be using this location to set up equipment specific to rehabbing climbing injuries like hangboard training, creating pulley systems to unload your body weight and even create a mini systems board to practice movements on the wall.
The greatest thing I’m proud of is that I am able to combine my passions with my practice. All work and no play will still mean I get to play with patients that want to get better at climbing!
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I think the greatest love, humanly speaking, anyone can receive is the love of a mother. The one memory that stands out the most was when I was just maybe 5 or 6 years old. My mom worked the night shift as a nurse at Edgewater Hospital when it was still running. She would have to leave for work and there were times I would cling on to her for dear life thinking I would never see her again.
I didn’t know any better crying uncontrollably. But she never got upset for being late for work. She never scolded me for my illogical behavior. In her forbearance, I just received tender love. She’d wait for me to fall back asleep and then go off into the night to make money for her family. She set the best example of sacrificial love I can think of.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leedpt.com
- Phone: 8474149493
- Email: jamesleedpt@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leephysicaltherapy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LEEDPT/
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