“The greatest thing we’ve ever done” – that’s Joe Kukal’s assessment of the 15’ Endless Pools® Swim Spa that he and his wife, Pat, installed in their all-season patio room last January. To put that gushing praise into context, you need to understand a little about the Kukals’ recent past.
In 2000, Pat was disabled with back troubles. After that, as she bluntly puts it, “I got bad; I got fat.” Five years later, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Joe’s disability followed two years after that; he had asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He’d soon undergo two back surgeries and separate knee and neck surgeries, which would leave him on three different painkilling pharmaceuticals, three times a day.
“That,” as he now recalls, “was before the pool.”
/f/76838/996x560/b3121dc350/tkrs0arwrec22bkz9w0w.jpg "The Endless Pools swimming machine in the Kukals' greenhouse")
Before the Pool
When you live in a small town in Pennsylvania’s northern Lehigh Valley, you expect long drives. And that’s what Pat faced, three times a week, to attend water aerobics classes to alleviate her conditions. “She had to travel half an hour to a pool – rain, snow, sleet, or hail,” Joe recalls. Of course, “had to” doesn’t mean she always did. “Up here,” Pat notes of 2014’s record snowfall, “you just don’t travel 20 miles in the winter.”
Regardless of distance, that pool wasn’t satisfactory for Joe. As Pat recalls, it was “too much chlorine, too cold, he couldn’t get into the pool, whatever.”
“I Feel Much Better”
Since installing their Endless Pools Swim Spa, “she doesn’t have to” travel, Joe notes gratefully. Pat now does at home “everything I was taught in class” plus standing swim strokes against the Endless Pools current.
As for Joe, he has a low-chlorine swim spa that he can adjust to exactly the temperature he wants – “93° in winter, 90° in summer.” A simple, sturdy set of exterior stairs, plus the swim spa’s built-in interior steps, allow him to get in and out easily.
Of course, mobility has been less of an issue since he started his routine of 200 breaststrokes, a brief rest, 50 more strokes, and then the hydrotherapy jets for his back. “I lost 20 pounds,” he says proudly.
The regular physical activity also helped him to cut back on his painkillers. And though he previously needed supplemental oxygen when sleeping and traveling, “I sent the oxygen concentrator back to the company” after dropping the excess weight.
“It’s been a great help to me,” he says of his swim spa. “I feel much better.” And Pat concurs: “It’s kept me moving.”
The Supplemental Perks of Greenhouse Convenience
After the long drives and missed classes at the public pool, Pat is particularly grateful in colder weather. “It’s been terrific to have it here and have it warm whenever you want to go in. It’s nice to get in in winter when I can see the snow.”
“My grandkids enjoy it,” she adds with a smile in her voice. “In a couple of months, they figured out how to swim better.”
As with any new technology, there was a learning curve. After installation, they had to develop some basic water-quality skills. In that area, they found Mark in Endless Pools Customer Service to be most helpful. “He’s been fantastic,” Pat asserts. And Joe confirms that, with Mark’s help, the water has been “crystal clear.”
Lost weight, fewer meds, better sleep, less driving, and more quality family time – no wonder Joe so readily volunteers, “We just love it!”