News

Healthline
By John Loeppky
Feb. 23, 2023

Lower back pain is a common ailment that can drive people to take swift and sometimes invasive measures, like having surgery or taking opioids, in search of relief.

Now new research has found that there may be an ideal mix of non-opioid medication that can effectively treat lower back pain in many patients.

The new meta-analysis published this week in the Journal of Orthopaedic ResearchTrusted Source looked at data from 18 studies that contain data from 3,478 patients.

Rehab Stroke Time
By Andrew Nealen
Feb. 22, 2023

In the second part of a three-part series on young stroke survivor Garrett Mendez, who was only 19-years-old when he had a stroke, his mother Eileen Mendez shares her recollection of her son’s stroke and recovery.

Garrett’s stroke was caused by a head first hit into the boards during a hockey game. The hit occurred six days before he had the stroke. We were at that game. He was a freshman in college. Garrett played hockey since he was four and it was the worst hit I had ever seen. I thought he had broken his neck or was dead. Within a few minutes, he was moving his feet, he got up, was checked by the trainer who found no sign of concussion or anything else and he actually finished the game. 

Stroke Rehab Times
By Andrew Nealen
Feb. 20, 2023

In the first of a three-part series on stroke survivor Garrett Mendez, who was only 19 years old when he had a stroke, we speak with Garrett himself on his survival story.

SR: Could you give us an introduction to yourself and your life pre-stroke?
I am currently 36 years old. I live in Trumbull, Connecticut. Life pre stroke I was very athletic. For example, I played baseball, golf, and ice hockey in my younger years. I attended a private high school named Norte Dame of Fairfield because they have a competitive hockey team that I wanted to compete on. I ended up playing on Notre Dame’s varsity ice hockey from the time I was a freshman. During my sophomore year of high school Notre Dame started a varsity lacrosse team, which I made.

Rehab Management Magazine
January/February 2023

"Adaptive Exercise Beyond Rehab" article on page 6. Rehab Management Magazine's cover story highlights Gaylord's Exercise for Life or EX4L program (see page 6). The article, written by Kimberly Levesque, PT, DPT, and Phil Silverio, PT, DPT, OCS, discusses that getting regular and effective exercise can be challenging for people with paralysis and other disabilities. To address this need, Gaylord outpatient physical therapists developed and launched Exercise for Life (EX4L), an exercise program that bridges the gap between rehabilitation services and independent, healthy living for people with paralysis, spinal cord injury, and other disabilities.

WTNH Channel 8 News
By Kathryn Hauser
Feb. 12, 2023

WALLINGFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The Super Bowl wasn’t the only big athletic event on Sunday. There was a big hockey game at Choate Rosemary Hall to raise money for a good cause.

They played sled hockey at the Choate rink. Members of the Choate hockey teams took to sleds to play against a team from the Gaylord Adaptive Sports Program.

“Just seeing how much grit and effort that they put into it – it’s just amazing, especially because it seems like a different game – but honestlyit’s’s amazing just seeing how people connect over the sport,” said Cadence Secreto, a player on the Choate girls Varsity hockey team.

The Register Citizen
By Jeff Jacobs
Feb. 3, 2023

NORTH HAVEN — It was three minutes into the first period last Valentine’s Day when players from North Haven and Immaculate collided in the neutral zone at Northford Ice Pavilion. Tumbling to the ice, the two wiped out Marty Tangredi along the sideboards.

The long-time hockey official quickly got himself to a sitting position and reached back behind him for the ledge of the boards to pull himself up.

“I thought I was OK,” Tangredi said. “I wanted to be OK. I looked down at my leg.”

He wasn’t OK. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Shoreline Times
By Sarah Page Kyrcz
Jan. 31, 2023

BRANFORD — With focused concentration, flanked by an occupational therapist and a physical therapist, John Bysiewicz took small, deliberate steps across the gym at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare / Gaylord Hospital.

“Step and turn,” said Paula Savino, physical therapist. “Step and turn. Make sure your shoulders don’t pitch forward.”

Bysiewicz, 60, a shoreline triathlete is learning to walk again, outfitted with a prosthetic limb after losing his lower left leg in a near fatal crash

The avid runner and cyclist is well known by running enthusiasts across the state as the owner of JB Sports, which organizes statewide some 20 road races...

WTNH Channel 8 News
By Dennis House
Feb. 5, 2023

(WTNH) – Imagine being able to walk, run and bike one moment, and in an instant, a careless driver hits you. You wake up with part of your leg missing.

That’s the story of John Bysiewicz, the president of JB Sports and a well-known race organizer.

Dennis House sat down with him as he fights to get his athletic life back.

WFSB News Channel 3
By Dylan Fearon
January 30, 2023

(WFSB) - This is John Bysiewicz’s toughest challenge: rehab.

“I’m starting to learn to walk,” said John. It’s difficult. Even taking one step can be grueling. But it’s a marathon, not a sprint for John.

A runner, triathlete and event director, John is the face of racing in New Haven County. If you’ve run in it, chances are John and his company JB Sports have organized it. “Probably close to a thousand events in the 35 years,” said John.

In November, John was biking in Guilford.  “I don’t remember getting hit,” John said. A driver came from the opposite direction and hit him. John was thrown into a ditch in a field.

WTNH Channel 8
By Dennis House
January 27, 2023

WTNH) – The victim of a hit-and-run on the shoreline is battling back after life-changing injuries. It’s a story that made headlines across the state.

The brother of Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz was hit while biking in Guilford and the driver took off. The injuries were so bad that John Bysiewicz had to have part of his leg amputated. He almost died if a good Samaritan didn’t stop and helped him.

John is at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford after being at Yale New Haven Hospital. Since then, he has been going through physical therapy to learn how to walk again.