Our TCO comeback story is a family affair. TCO's expert surgeons and caring and knowledgeable physical therapists helped three members of our active family through a difficult 2018-2019 orthopedic year.
In May 2018, after many injuries and pain from decades of activities: football, baseball, basketball, running, floor ball and mountain biking,
Dr. Chris Coetzee surgically reconstructed dad, Paul’s ankle (age 58).
Also, in May 2018, daughter, Emma, age 24, tore her ACL playing for her club ultimate Frisbee team.
Dr. Christie Heikes surgically repaired Emma’s left knee in June 2018. In January 2019, Emma hit a speed bump in her recovery when she returned to Dr. Heikes for a cyclops lesion in the same knee.
Not to be outdone, mom, Beth, age 56, had her ski and hockey season cut short with shoulder surgery at the end of February 2019 with
Dr. Adam Bakker. (
Dr. Andrea Saterbak also got Beth back into skiing and hockey after her third ACL surgery in 2016; Son, Joe, had hand surgery with a TCO doctor too.)
These injuries were challenging for our active family of four. Our quality time is centered around sports. Every day after supper, when the kids were younger, we would go in the backyard to play games. Most often we played 2v2 soccer or wiffle ball. When the kids grew older, most evenings were spent at an organized soccer, baseball, softball, floor ball, hockey, or downhill skiing event. We attend each other’s events and encourage each other to reach our athletic goals. Therefore, we were eager to start our comeback journey.
Our family’s comeback journey led us to TCO’s physical therapy group. There,
Brooke Deshler’s positive and motivational spirit inspired Paul to work through a long period of significant pain and instability to where Paul recently walked nine miles on a beach in Florida and biked over two hours on a warm Minnesota spring day.
Physical therapist,
Mike Slavics, has encouraged both Beth and Emma with his fully engaged spirit.
Beth is back to a normal schedule of biking, working and everyday tasks.
Nicole Tezuka’s upbeat personality also encouraged Beth to improve her range of motion and shoulder strength and even shared an excellent protein power ball recipe!
Emma’s significant knee injury at times isolated her and took her away from her day to day social network of her team sports and friend’s activities. Mike Slavic understood that physical activity was a big part of Emma’s well-being and identity. Mike inspires mental toughness and encourages Emma to persevere, often reminding her she is still an athlete. Mike passionately and safely motivated Emma to greatly improve her strength and balance so that Emma is now ready for TCO’s ACE (return to sports) program. Soon, Emma will be able to return to club ultimate frisbee and rejoin her mother’s hockey team.
Our family is still on our comeback journey. We often do our physical therapy together or go on walks to stay active. We are gearing up for family hikes this summer.
We owe our Comeback Journey to TCO’s Drs. Coetzee, Saterbak, Heikes, Bakker and physical therapists Brooke Deshler, Mike Slavic’s and Nicole Tezuka.
