I had had a foot surgery with another company, that went wrong at my post-op appointment. At that appointment a screw let loose unleashing a torrent of staph infection. That doctor screwed the screw back into my foot instead of taking it out and treating me for the infection. This led to three years of an undiagnosed staph infection, destroying my tibia and dissolving most of my midfoot.
Dr. Ebeling was the TCO surgeon referred to me to recognize the eminent need for amputation. Following the amputation of my right leg below the knee, I came under the care of David Giancola with the Twin Cities Orthopedics prosthetic team, along with Chris Boosalis. These two men masterfully crafted the products for my limb while working diligently on restoring my sense of hope and vision for a new life. David Giancola, my prosthetist for the past nearly 3 years, has worked tirelessly to improve my life with his words of encouragement, expertise in prosthetic development, and hours of work at making me walk well. We have had many appointments that took us from 5pm to 9pm at night to get my prosthetic legs right. Never once did he complain or not make himself available to me. Chris Boosalis has been an invaluable resource in my time with TCO. He has met with me, advised me, encouraged me, and help me see a vision for the support group. He has made himself available for anything that I needed for myself or for the good of my group.
Two years later the same staph infection (that had taken my right leg) lay dormant in my system and in a matter of hours put me into sepsis. Once again, TCO rose to the occasion and Dr. Nemanich saved my life by removing my left leg. Once again, Chris and David were by my side and encouraged me to launch the only support group for amputees registered in the state of Minnesota, with the Amputee Coalition. This fall I suffered a set back when the same infection inbeded in my tissues flared up. Again being septic and in the hospital, Dr. Ryan Horazdovsky was the TCO surgeon who performed two procedures that put me back on my feet. His efforts allowed me to return to teaching my second grade class without missing too much time from work.
Throughout all of this – and because of this I have been able to make myself available to more than 50 amputees and their families as leader of BALANCE – the amputee support group or none of this would’ve been possible without my champions from Twin Cities Orthopedics.