When Elaine Silverman, 86, fell during a visit to Atlantic City, she found it hard to imagine she would be able to attend her granddaughter’s wedding. But her months-long recovery had a joyful ending with some hard work and help along the way.
Elaine’s fall left her with a fractured femur, sending her first to Penn Medicine for surgery. She then spent more than two weeks in inpatient rehabilitation, where she healed and began to walk again.
“The hardest part was not knowing if I’d be able to attend my granddaughter’s wedding in November,” Elaine said.
But she credits her care team of doctors, therapists, nurses and aides, who she calls “angels,” with keeping her focused on that goal.
When Elaine transitioned to outpatient physical therapy at Penn Medicine | Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Outpatient Therapy in Jenkintown, she took her goal a step further: She wanted not just to attend her granddaughter’s wedding but to walk down the aisle with her husband and grandson by her side.
Practice and a Plan
Elaine’s outpatient therapy team immediately embraced her deadline and worked to advance her walking and build strength and confidence. A month before the wedding, Elaine put aside her walker and practiced going down the aisle with one physical therapist on each side.
In fact, one therapist offered a key piece of advice that made all the difference for Elaine the day of the wedding: Skip the walker and save strength by using a wheelchair until it was time to walk down the aisle.
It worked.
On Nov. 8, 2025, Elaine stood, steadied herself, and proudly walked down the aisle, just as she had dreamed.
“The experience at Penn Medicine | Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Outpatient Therapy was unbelievable,” she said. “They knew my goal and told me not to worry, so I didn’t hesitate to myself. They backed me up at each therapy session, clapping and motivating me. I was only at the Jenkintown outpatient site for a month when I attended the wedding.”
She credits one therapist in particular — John Toovy, PT, DPT —for giving her the confidence she needed.
“He was amazing,” Elaine said.
Continuing the Journey
Today, Elaine walks with a walker and knee brace and continues outpatient therapy twice a week in Jenkintown. Her next goal? Traveling to Texas to visit her family and meet her great-granddaughter, expected this spring.
And she’s not the only Silverman working hard in therapy. Her husband, 89-year-old Stanley, attends rehabilitation sessions at the same time to build core strength and minimize pain from stenosis.
The couple encourages each other through their parallel rehabilitation journeys, inspired by the care that helped Elaine walk down the aisle of her dreams.