I have nothing but incredible things to say about my Physical Therapist,
Kaci Platz. I was assigned to Kaci after my surgery for a torn shoulder labrum, that was repaired by
Dr. Jason Barry (another incredible TCO team member). My shoulder had been in pain for the better part of 6 years prior to my surgery. During those years, I had been seen by other doctors and even received physical therapy and cortisone shots to "help" with the pain. One doctor went so far as telling me that I would probably have this pain permanently and would be receiving cortisone shots on a "regular basis". My job as a UPS driver requires lots of movement and bouncing around in a vehicle, that was nearly impossible to deal with over my 458 nightly miles to Iowa and back to Minneapolis. My injury also caused me to stop playing guitar and drums. the slightest motions made it impossible to hold a drumstick or strum any guitar.
In December of 2018, I had enough of the endless pain that was impairing my sleep, work, and everyday life. I was referred to TCO by my personal physician at Fairview. Upon my meetings with Dr. Barry, I knew things were gonna be different. He did tests and asked questions no one else had before. After an MRI confirmed what we suspected, we scheduled an orthoscopic repair in January 2019. The surgery went very well and healing was slow. Being in an immobilizing sling was hard to get used to.
I met with Kaci and was impressed with her questions and how gentle she was at our initial visit. As most people would be, I was very guarded of my shoulder and wanted nothing to do with anyone moving or manipulating my healing shoulder/arm. Kaci was good about gaining trust and manipulated my shoulder with the lightest but necessary movements. Over the following weeks, I looked forward to physical therapy sessions, as I found pain relief following each meeting and gained strength through the assigned exercises. Through those exercises, and great advice given by Kaci, I am excited to say that I am on track to return to work nearly a month earlier than expected (pending Dr. Barry's examination and approval).
As of this writing, I am pain-free and excited to return to work without daily struggles with excruciating pain and numbness. I hope to shortly start playing catch with my kids who are both in softball and baseball. I can play guitar again with NO issues!!!!!
I truly wish I had come to TCO earlier and avoided the pain and countless sleepless nights/days. I have recommended Twin Cities Orthopedics to anyone who has issues with pain and will have nothing but great things to say about my treatment and recovery. Many THANKS to the TCO team for their help with my recovery.
