Barr's Story
I learned to live better around my condition.
For many dealing with Peripheral Artery Disease, the world can slowly begin to shrink. It starts with subtle leg pain, cramping or fatigue during a simple walk, and can gradually turn into a hesitation to move at all.
For Barr Shriver, this condition threatened to turn a lifelong dream vacation into an experience he would have to watch from a wheelchair. Driven by a desire to move through life on his own two feet, Barr found the Supervised Exercise Therapy (SET) program at Penn Highlands Brookville and discovered exactly what he needed to reclaim his independence.
Supervised Exercise Therapy is a specialized outpatient program designed to help individuals with Peripheral Artery Disease reduce leg pain, improve circulation, increase strength and walk longer distances pain free.
“The name does not do it justice,” said Barr. “It’s not a gym. It’s not a physical therapy grind that leaves you cursing every step. It is a medically supervised, professionally coached, individually paced program built specifically for people whose circulation is fighting against them.”
Barr said the heart of the program lies in its dedicated coaches and staff, and credits much of his success directly to the skilled, attentive professionals who knew exactly when to push and when to ease back.
“I am a fall risk,” Barr said. “One wrong step, one moment of instability, one session where no one is paying attention — the consequences could set back everything I had worked for. They kept a careful, professional eye on me every single session without making me feel watched or limited. I felt coached. I felt safe. I felt like I was in exactly the right hands.”
The results of Barr’s hard work were life changing. Over the course of the program, his walking distance steadily increased, his stamina improved and his pain became more manageable and less defeating.
“They teach you to live better around your condition,” he said. “I walked out of sessions not just physically more capable but genuinely more educated and empowered about my own health.”
Most importantly, the program allowed him to achieve his ultimate goal.
“I walked into my vacation,” Barr said. “Under my own power, through the places I had dreamed about seeing.”