Patient Testimonials

I cannot say enough about Dr. Mittelsteadt and his wonderful staff! I had an EMT step on and break my left foot in three places about 5 years ago. Dr. Mittelsteadt was going to do surgery the following winter, which was about a year later, but something came up with my health so we couldn’t do it. That went on for 5 winters! Dr. Mittelsteadt saw me through all those years, with steroid shots and different braces. He was very understanding and patient. Plus, he is funny! Of all the doctors I have, he’s my favorite by far. Right after I went back to work from my ankle surgery, I fell and broke my kneecap. He took care of that as well. I fall and break things all the time, so I am sure I will be seeing him again!

In the fall of 2020, I was walking across my deck with an extension cord and tripped over the cord end. As I lay on the sidewalk assessing for possible damage, I rotated my leg left and right. Unfortunately, my right foot looked like it had quit, as my toes remained pointing skyward. I had made it to the age of 72 without breaking any bones. We were assigned to Dr. Ockuly and his team. My wife and I were introduced to Dani, who is Dr. Ockuly’s Care Coordinator. If we had any questions or concerns, Dani called back incredibly quickly and was very professional. If she didn’t have the answer, she found out and called us back promptly. During the consultation, we shared our faith life with Dr. Ockuly, who responded in kind. This deepened the relationship greatly and added significantly to the trust between patient and doctor.

Sometime after that, my wife was involved in a car accident. I drove to the emergency room and met her there after the EMTs had arrived. Lo and behold…she had unfortunately broken her arm and wrist. These were the first broken bones for her as well. During a break in the action, I slipped outside and left a message with Dani. She quickly called me back, and we scheduled an appointment with Dr. Ockuly again. I was so grateful to have his team help me get scheduled on the spot.

In my retirement, I took a job as a school bus driver. I am blessed with wonderful kids on my route, and they make me happy. One part of my job I did not like was taking the 200-yard walk from the base office to my bus, and the same walk again at the end of my shift. My arthritic knees made the journey so painful. This summer, Dr. Ockuly and his team replaced both knees. WOW! Though some discomfort remains, I am taking long, confident strides. At my follow-up appointment this week, I told Dr. Ockuly, “Thank you for using your God-given gifts to repair me so I could share my God-given gifts with others!” At that point, Dr. Ockuly offered me a tissue as I was starting to tear up! As I left, I thanked Dani profusely and received a hug from Annie, who invited us to her church to see their adoration chapel. My incisions are healing very well, and my final knee X-rays proved the surgery was perfect.

Dr. Mittelsteadt did surgery on both my left and right foot. This included bunions, hammer toes straightening, and fused bones due to arthritis. He spent time to explain everything clearly and gave me a clear picture of how surgery would proceed. He was kind, personable, and professional. I highly recommend him and his team!

Dr. Mittelsteadt removed bone spurs and scraped arthritis from my ankle. He really took the time when talking with me during my appointments. I highly recommend him to anyone.

Over time I have had to get many different types of surgery done on both feet. Dr. Vargas is a favorite of mine. He is very knowledgeable and kind, plus he is good at what he does. He is kind, funny, and overall, the best Podiatrist I have ever had.

Dr. Mittelsteadt performed my ankle replacement surgery three months ago and it feels great. I am now setting up an appointment to have him do a knee replacement as well. The procedure went just as Dr. Mittelsteadt and his Team explained. The staff is very helpful in setting up all my appointments concerning my procedure.

Dr. Mittelsteadt took time explaining what he found on my X-rays and discussed what the outlook was for me and my feet. He gave me options, explaining each one, but leaving the decision up to me. My follow up appointment was the same. He took the time to hear the updates and go over what my next steps would be. I always leave the office feeling heard.

Thank you, Dr. Traynor and the PT staff at TCO Maple Grove, for the excellent care you gave me after I broke my ankle this winter. Dr. Traynor was caring, professional, and did a great job explaining that my injury would require surgery to fix it. Even though I’m sure he has many other patients, he took time to explain exactly what needed to be done and what the healing process would entail. Thanks to Dr. Traynor, his assistant Logan, and the team at Maple Grove TCO, my recovery is going well. I couldn’t be more pleased with the service I received.

After rupturing my Achilles, I was recommended to meet with Dr. Engasser. I had a very short recovery timeline, and Dr. Engasser was very honest and optimistic about my outcome if everything went well. I was able to return to being active 13 weeks post-surgery. There is no doubt that I would have had a different outcome had I not worked with Dr. Engasser. His skill and personality are second to none. I would not go to any other doctor for any foot issues. I’m very thankful to have been connected with him!

Dr. Paul Cammack changed my life in under 30 minutes with a toe surgery I waited over a year for. When I was 7 months pregnant, part of the refrigerator fell on top of my bare foot and crushed my little toes. I went to TCO’s urgent care and had an X-ray done. I was in a post-op shoe the remainder of my pregnancy. This injury was already bad enough being that pregnant with a 2-year-old, but it got worse. Once I had the baby and the shoe came off, I felt a terrible pain in my big right toe joint. I saw Dr. Cammack, and he recommended we do an MRI. After the MRI, he said the cartilage was detached from the bone and that was causing me the extreme pain I was feeling. The only way to fix it was surgery.

I booked the surgery but unfortunately it got denied by my health insurance. Dr. Cammack did a peer-to-peer review, that got denied. He did a first appeal that got denied due to “not medically necessary” and “not enough literature”. This injury was ruining my life. I was in constant pain; I was limited in everything I could do, and I was only 33 years old. I could not bend to put my newborn in his car seat as the pain was excruciating. We pursued a second appeal and that got denied. I pursued second opinions, even Dr. Traynor of TCO agreed the surgery was the best option. I tried physical therapy and that didn’t help. I did acupuncture for chronic pain and that helped mentally, but it didn’t help with the pain of the foot itself. I had a trip to Spain and Dr. Cammack gave me a cortisone shot which helped for six weeks. I felt like I was running out of options. For approximately $18-$21k I could have paid for this surgery with cash, but that’s a lot. I researched the option of even going to another country. Finally, I switched insurance companies.

Come February of 2025, my new health insurance provider approved my surgery without any problems. The surgery was finally scheduled and performed on 2/24/25! I have been pain free ever since. I am so grateful to Dr. Cammack and his team for being persistent and advocating for me. They truly did not give up on me and now I am finally able to be a mom to my two boys without the limitations I had before! My whole life feels full of possibilities now and it’s because Dr. Cammack did this surgery. Now I am in physical therapy at TCO, and it is helping with the healing too.