My first visit with Dr. Meyer yesterday was incredible! He has definitely restored my faith in the medical profession with his incredible bedside manner and his knowledge of Dupuytren’s Contracture. His confidence in his diagnosis surpasses all others and to me, that says it all. Kudos to Doctor Meyer! We need more handsome Dr. Meyers in this world who cares about his patients and medical profession.

As a therapist myself, it was hard to become a patient suddently. But after recreational softball caused me to have several orthpedic injuries in a matter of years (2007 and 2009), I was fully thrown into the role of patient. My first injury was a fractured ulna from a softball that hit the arm I was using to get off the ground after a slide. When Dr. Meyer presented the options of being casted for 8 weeks (with the possibility of still needing surgery) or surgery, I chose to have ORIF surgery so I could be back to work in two days. He helped me get into therapy that Friday for a splint so I could continue my memorial day camping plans and then I was back at work the following Monday (yes with a splint and lifting restrictions)!

 

I was able to resume softball by August and had a full return of strength and function within 6 months. It was wonderful! Unfortunately, 2 years later at the end of the recreational softball season during the Championship game, a close call at second base caused me to have to lunge back to the base and onto the glove the the short stop execuring a diving tag. I stepped on his glove which was going perpendicular to my direction and felt an instant pop and twist of my knee. Again, as a therapist myself, I knew immediately that I now too had become a knee patient. I didn’t know how severe it was at the time, but I knew it wasn’t great. I got a knee brace and, a few days after this injury, my knee completely gave out on me while getting out of my car and I fell onto the concrete and tragically dislocated my elbow. This would all be tragic enough, had this also not been a week before my wedding. As my husband and I met playing softball, the plan was to play softball at our wedding. Now I have a torn up knee and an elbow that is black and blue from wrist to armpit.

 

I saw Dr. Meyer for follow up on the elbow and he referred me to Dr. Knowlan and an MRI of the knee. I was able to get through my wedding without crutches and a beautiful knee brace under my wedding dress! I was able to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at our wedding and then pose for some pictures with the teams and ‘batting’ before I excused myself from play. It made for great pictures! The MRI returned and it was a torn ACL, MCL, frayed meniscus, bone chips off the tibia, sprained fibular collateral ligament and surgery would be recommended. I went on my honeymoon with a hinged knee brace and a hinged elbow brace.

 

Spring of the next year I decided to have the ACL repaired. In the years since the surgeries I returned to playing softball, to prove to myself that I didn’t have a ‘career ending’ injury. In an attempt to take up a safer sport that wouldn’t require so much time off work if injrued, we took up golf and now only sub on softball leagues. In the recent years, I have started running and have run several 5K races and am pleased to report that on the most recent one on April 7th, Goldy’s Run, I had zero knee pain! NONE! On another note, I just got asked to sub on a softball team and am actually considering it despite my bad luck with injuries. This wouldn’t be an option to consider were it not for my wonderful surgeons that put me back together!

As the story goes, file this one under “pretty unbelievable!” I was scheduled for a spinal injection at 11:00am. The evening before, around 9:00pm, my index finger felt very swollen, hot, and stiff. Assuming I jammed it or did damage, it was significant enough I asked to be seen at Orthopedic Urgent Care. I was quickly shown to an internal exam room and quickly seen by a PA, Jen. She felt very strongly that Dr. Meyer be called even though he wasn’t scheduled to be in Woodbury or in clinic anywhere that day. X-rays were negative but with the swelling impacting me as much as it was (pain was around 8-9), clearly something would have to happen for the pain to relent.

Dr. Meyer came into the clinic and I saw a lot of concern on his face. 3 years earlier Dr. Meyer removed a Schwannoma, a nerve bundle tumor, from that index finger, with the procedure leaving me with very thin and easily scraped open skin that bleeds significantly. My finger was swollen to the point that I wondered if that skin wouldn’t burst and bleed a lot. I was running a fever and it became evident that I would need surgery pretty quickly to relieve the pressure and lessen the pain. Jen and Dr. Meyer quickly made arrangements for me to have emergency surgery that afternoon at High Pointe surgical center; where I’d been just 3 weeks earlier for left thumb CMC joint repair and left shoulder acromioplasty, bursectomy, and coracoacromial work by Dr. Meyer.

I drove over to High Pointe surgical center and was prepped for surgery. The staff noted I did not have a driver and when Dr. Meyer came in to talk to me, we discussed having the surgery with local anesthesia vs. general with a block. Both Jen and Dr. Meyer said that one of the two of them would drive me home. Surgery proceeded and before long, I was in recovery. Dr. Meyer drove me home around 4:30pm. Who does that? Dr. Meyer! That’s who. He came in on his day off to look at a sore finger, performed surgery, and delivered the patient home. Thanks also to to his wife who came to my house to pick him up.

My story continues! It was shortly before 5:00 and the phone rang. It was Jen & Lanae on his team calling to see how I was doing! I am moved to tears with the kindness everyone showed. Every single person I interacted with that day had my best interests at heart. Kudos also to the wonderful staff at TCO and High Point Surgery Center. I’m sure my case was a rare disruption to their Friday afternoon, where surgeries were already completed and patients were almost all gone. I never felt like they saw me as a delay in leaving at the end of a week. They were all wonderful, professional, friendly, concerned, and courteous, and I never once felt like I was an intrusion.

I’m from Mahtomedi, MN and I play minor league professional hockey in Greenville, South Carolina. My journey to TCO began on February 24th during a game in Orlando, Florida where I took a knee to knee hit, resulting in a severe leg and knee injury. After traveling back to SC, I had an X-ray, CT scan, and MRI. The local doctors told me the devastating news; that I had a tibial plateau fracture and accompanying ligament damage and would need surgery. It was tentatively scheduled to be done in SC. However, at my next visit, the primary orthopedic surgeon said that he changed his mind and did not think that surgery was needed and that I should just let my injuries heal on their own.

 

Confused by the conflicting opinions, I reached out to Dr. Nick Meyer back home in Minnesota, since he had done my surgery for a broken hand a few years earlier. Dr. Meyer took my calls and answered my texts late at night and on the weekend. He reviewed my medical records and even forwarded them to his colleagues at TCO for their opinions. He spoke to the SC doctors and shared his opinion that my injury required surgery in order to allow for a full recovery. He connected me with Dr. Paul Lafferty & I flew home and was able to have the surgery the following day.

 

Dr. Lafferty’s Care Coordinator, Denise, was so patient and helpful with the last minute scheduling and answering my families many questions. Dr. Lafferty took the time to explain the procedure and assured me that surgery was the best option. At my post-op appointment, he was so encouraging that I would be able to return to playing hockey again. Being able to have physical therapy at the TCO near my home was very convenient and my therapist, Scott Cichos, is helping me every step of the way on the long path back to playing. He’s helped with just bearing weight, then the first few steps, learning how to walk again, and continuing with full unrestricted workouts. I still have a ways to go before I’m back on the ice but I’m confident that I will get there. Everyone on my TCO care team was amazing, but without Dr. Meyer’s advice and support when I was first injured so far away from home, I wouldn’t have had the chance to continue my hockey career. Thank you Dr. Meyer and TCO!

Fourteen-year-old Billy Stokes was playing hockey for North St. Paul when what should have been a normal “check” turned into a shoulder-to-shoulder collision with another hockey player. He felt a crack and then instant pain, but he gathered himself and passed the puck to his teammates. When he got off the ice, Billy sat on the bench for the rest of the game, afraid to move and knowing something was definitely wrong.

When the game finally ended, it was evident Billy needed to see a doctor. At the emergency room, the staff carefully removed his hockey jersey. A bone on his right side was protruding and X-rays confirmed that Billy had broken his clavicle. The emergency room doctor recommended that Billy be seen by an orthopaedic specialist.

Billy’s mother, Pam Stokes, recalled, “We asked to be referred to an orthopaedist who would treat him as an active and athletic kid. We needed someone who would listen to us and help us make the right decisions for our young son.

“We were able to get in immediately to St. Croix Orthopaedics,” explained Pam. “It was very important to us to have Billy seen as soon as possible.”

Dr. Nick Meyer thoroughly explained Billy’s injury to Billy and his parents. Billy had two breaks in his bone, which is not typical for clavicle fractures. Dr. Meyer presented Billy and his parents with two possible treatments plans — one would involve surgery and the other would allow the bone to heal itself.

“Dr. Meyer explained how the bone would heal with surgery versus non-surgery and gave us the pros and cons of both treatment plans,” Pam recalled. “He gave us all the information we needed to make an informed decision. Most importantly, Dr. Meyer talked with Billy and reassured him that he would be able to play hockey again. I felt this was so important because Billy is old enough to understand his injury.”

Billy and his parents decided on the non-surgical treatment option. They felt confident the break would heal and Billy would have nothing more to show for it than a little bump. Billy sat out the rest of his hockey season and waited to see how his bone healed. After eight weeks, he was able to resume his normal activity. At ten weeks, he skated for the first time; but his first collision hurt, so they decided to give it a little more time to heal. The final result was just what they were hoping for; Billy’s clavicle had healed, just as Dr. Meyer had described.

Although Billy missed much of his hockey season, Pam felt this was a great learning experience for him. “Billy is now so much stronger. He had a setback, but he has had to work hard to get back to where he was before the injury,” she said. Heeding Dr. Meyer’s advice, Billy has enrolled in a weightlifting program to strengthen his body so he can be better prepared for his next hockey season. Until then, he definitely has a story to share with his fellow hockey players.