Patient Testimonials

Just saw Dr. Szalapski for my one year post-surgery appointment. My knee feels great. Thank you Dr. Szalapski. You’re the best!

I am so glad I found Dr. Kruse online by searching “minimally-invasive knee surgery”. I had my second knee surgery at the end of January and I’m healing just fine. I really like Dr. Kruse because he is personable and knowledgable. His bedside manner is great and I always felt like I was in good hands!

I’ve had four knee replacements previously and last summer I was having pain in my left knee. We thought it would be a simple surgery. I had two very serious infections and I ended up having three surgeries to have a rod placed from my hip to my ankle. I had excellent care and Dr. Szalapski was always very honest with me. The staff at TCO is also excellent.

On May 27, 2017, I stood on the top of the podium at the NCAA DII Outdoor Track and Field National Championships after winning the 1500 meters in record setting fashion. I worked so hard for that moment. I was on top of the mountain. The climb was extremely difficult and painful, however, every moment of it was worth it. Little did I know that the next two years would be the ultimate test of my physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual strength. In July 2018, I joined Team USA Minnesota, a professional running team located in the Twin Cities. I started training for my dream of making the Olympic Team in the 1500 meters in 2020. A series of lower let injures had hindered my senior year cross-country and track seasons and I was eager to put them behind me and train under an amazing coach and with talented teammates. I also received care from TCO physicians and physical therapists to keep me at my optimum health. Unfortunately, the lower leg injuries prevailed. I was diagnosed with a variety of lower leg injuries that plagued me on and off throughout the fall.

Finally, around mid December, after ruling out stress fracture, stress reaction, tendonitis and compartment syndrome diagnoses, my podiatrist from TCO, Dr. Langer, did not give up on me. He mentioned the possibility of a condition called, Popliteal Artery Entrapment Syndrome. It is an extremely rare vascular condition for women my age where muscles behind the knee compress the main artery and vein. This results in limited blood flow to the lower legs and a variety of painful symptoms. Langer referred me to a vascular surgeon who confirmed his diagnosis.

On February 27th, I underwent surgery on both legs. The surgeon removed both my plantaris muscles, opened up the soleus fascia and created more space for the blood vessels. Since surgery, I feel incredible relief in my lower legs. Dr. Langer is my TCO champion because without him I never would have been tested for this rare condition or had the opportunity to get surgery to fix the problem. Under the care of Dr. Langer and my physical therapist, Mike Shirilla, I am excited to have the opportunity to continue my road to recovery, train and compete pain-free and pursue my Olympic dreams.

Although my comeback story is not complete, I would not be as far as I am today without my surgeon, Dr. David Anderson, and especially my physical therapist and “best friend”, Luke Cash. I am in the 9th inning of my recovery and am confident that I will end the game stronger than when I started.

My setback began the Sunday evening of August 5th, 2018, the night before club softball tryouts. My friends and I decided to play a game of 3 on 3 basketball in the Eagan league. While playing, I went up for a lay-up and came down and heard a “POP”. I fell down in pain, not knowing the journey I would endure. Later, I found out that I tore my ACL in my right knee. Devastating for a very athletic 13 year old girl, my journey ahead was going to last for 6 to 9 months or longer, and I was not sure if I could do it.

The day I heard I had torn my ACL was the toughest day of my life. However, within an hour of the news, all of my best friends hopped on their bikes and were at my house to just sit with me, watch movies and to just be there, as they knew how hard this was for me. I knew I needed surgery and I was scared, disappointed and sad. The next 10 days were filled with love and support from my family and friends and a lot of doctors appointments in between. The night before surgery I was very nervous and scared, not sure of what lay ahead of me.

On the day of surgery, I woke up early and got ready to head to TCO in Eagan, the day of the Vikings Training Camp scrimmage vs the Jaguars. Once there, I was brought into a room and they prepared me for surgery. I was comforted by the wonderful nurse who took such good care of me, reminding me that everything was going to be alright. Dr. Anderson came in and explained what was going to happen during surgery and then the next thing I remember was the nurse giving me water and my parents and big brother coming into see me.

Two days later I started my long comeback when I started physical therapy. When I met my physical therapist, Luke Cash, he introduced himself as my new “best friend”. I thought that was a little weird, but little did I know that he was right. He has become one of my best friends, big brother, biggest supporter, as well as my worst critic, but in a good way.

At first, physical therapy was boring, as all I was able to do was try to lift my leg and work on my range of motion. But as the weeks passed, I was able to do more and more. The day I was finally able to ditch my immobilizer was a great day, but the day I was able to walk out of TCO Eagan on my own without the crutches was spectacular. I even asked my mom if we could run them over with our truck, as I was so excited to be done with them and I never want to see them again!

As the months passed and many more therapy sessions under my belt, I slowly continued to improve and was able to start doing more and more. The day Luke tossed me a basketball and I was able to start to dribble and the day I went over to the Training HAUS and was able to start shooting, made my slow comeback start to feel a lot more bearable. I was finally starting to do a few small sports and activities, making me feel more like myself. Shortly after I got a basketball back in my hand I got the best news so far – Dr. Anderson told me that I could finally start to swing a bat. I was so excited to tell all my closest friends that I could finally start to slowly participate in the sport I love.

My comeback hit a slow setback when I had my first TRAC testing at 6 months post-surgery. I knew going into the testing that my quads were not equal in strength but finding out they were only about 51% to the other left me angry and discouraged. After having a long heart to heart with Luke regarding how far I had come and getting our game plan of how we were going to build strength in my right quad, I was ready for the next 3 months and more and more determined to work hard and lean into my weakness and be as prepared as I could for the next TRAC testing.

I have been so lucky to have the best physical therapist, Luke, who not only has been there to help me heal physically, but has been there to help me heal mentally. He has helped me every step of the way, encouraging me, pushing me by helping me set goals and helping me not get discouraged when things didn’t go as I had hoped. Luke is such a good motivator, he knows just what to say at the right time to make me feel better and more willing to keep pushing harder and harder every day. Because of Luke and my great experience at TCO Eagan, I now want to be a physical therapist, so that I can help young athletes that were in the same situation as I, like Luke helped me, and aid them in creating their own comeback story.

This setback really allowed me to show my determination and courage while at physical therapy and at home. I made sure to do whatever they said. That meant that I did my exercises as many times as I could and then did five more. It was and still is tough to stay determined and have the courage to stick with it even if times get tough. The first couple weeks after surgery were the most difficult, because I could not move and had crutches. Once I started physical therapy, that gave me a goal to work towards, but it was very slow and I was not seeing the progress I expected to see. Before, everything always came easy to me whether it was basketball, softball or school. This was much harder and I was not sure I could do it. It was here that I needed to dig even deeper and work even harder, even when I was not seeing progress. The support of family and friends made all the difference for me to keep pushing and encouraging me. Now, at my 8-month point, I am 85% healed and seeing great progress with my PT and back playing limited sports; I can see the end of the road towards full recovery and now it makes me want to work even harder to get back to playing with my teams again!

During this journey, I learned that you have to be determined to be able to achieve your goals. Also you have to have a lot of courage because it’s not easy for an athletic 13 year old to stop playing sports. I believe that when people break barriers they use determination and courage. Even though my journey is not over, I will continue to have courage and to be determined and will continue to dream of big goals for myself. This injury was really crushing, but I am beginning to see that it may have given me the best gift of perseverance and knowing what I really want and how to work hard for it every day.

Below are comments from Paige’s MN Sting Softball Club Coaches:
(From Head Coach Steve Snedeker)
I think one of the amazing aspects of Paige’s recovery back for her club fastpitch team was her attitude. Right from the beginning she was like “no problem”. I will be back soon. Being 13 years old, a six month recovery normally would seem like a very long time, but not to Paige. Paige made almost every practice and games and even traveled with us in the Fall 2018 to Arizona. She kept the scorebook for the team, played some catch with upper body throws and called pitches from the dugout. She was team manager and very much bonded with her team. I know she will be in the starting lineup coming this June, when are season starts. It was quite amazing that she could heal like this in these few months, as in previous years and experiences with other athletes it took a year or more. We were very impressed with her attitude and great work ethic.

(From Asst Coach Bob McGarry)
I met Paige for the first time the weekend before softball tryouts. I had seen her play and knew what a great player she was but was struck that day by her maturity, intelligence and inquisitiveness. The meeting included 4 of her teammates and all of their parents. However, Paige had some of the best questions and it was clear she knew what she was looking for in a program. The morning of tryouts, I got a call from her father Jake letting me know that she had been injured the night before in basketball game and was uncertain if she would be able to fully participate in tryouts. He said they might be a little late as they were going to get it checked out at TCO Eagan as a precaution. Well, as we all know now, it was much more serious than had been previously hoped. However, we didn’t think twice about offering Paige a position on the team because of the positive attitude she displayed when she showed up on crutches very shortly after her diagnosis and her determination to get back on the field for the Summer 2019 season. Her positive attitude has been a constant throughout the Fall 2018 season and the Winter workouts. She has been at every event that didn’t conflict with a TCO doctor’s appointment and not once has she complained about her predicament or been anything but an exemplary teammate. During the early weeks there wasn’t much that she could do so she helped her teammates learn their defensive responsibilities and even called pitches during games, as she is a catcher. As she was cleared to more activities, she would catch infield for the coaches or sit on a bucket and load the tees for teammates to warm up hitting. There were times where we couldn’t work her into the plans, but she would show up and leave with the same smile on her face regardless.

It wasn’t until the latter part of our winter training where Paige was finally able to participate in some of the workout activities. Sometimes she could participate in a team drill but most times Paige had to work alone or just with a coach but she approached every scenario with the same determination to improve herself and beat this injury. In late April, I had the pleasure to see the beginning of the fruits of all of her hard work last week when she crushed a 3-run home run over the varsity field fence in a school ball game. As I watched her slowly jog around the bases, I could see her face light up and feel that all the pain and hard work she has been through is leading to her even larger comeback in softball and in her life. There is no doubt in my mind that Paige will come out of this a stronger player and person and I am so glad that she chose our team and allowed us to be her coach. I can’t wait to see her play softball this summer!

Below are comments from Paige’s Rosemount Varsity Basketball Coach, Chris Orr:
Paige is mature beyond her years. For any 8th grader, having to endure a serious injury can be very difficult. It was heart breaking to hear that Paige had torn her ACL. I had just met with her to talk about goals for the upcoming season (Basketball) and the next thing I heard from her is that she tore her ACL. As a coach, I ask all my players to create their own legacy and write their own story during their time in our High School program. For Paige, the story hasn’t started out as planned, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a powerful beginning to her story. Even though she was only an 8thgrader, Paige is one of the most competitive and hardworking girls we have in our program. These characteristics did not leave Paige this year, even though she was unable to participate on the court. Her competitiveness and work ethic showed in her rehab. She has been determined ever since it happened to get back on the court/field as soon as possible and stronger than ever.

Paige is also very committed. It would’ve been easy for Paige to step away from basketball this season as she knew there was no way possible that she was going to play. That’s not Paige though. She approached me asking if she could be one of our manager’s so she could use this season as a learning period and still help the team and our program out. As her rehab progressed, Paige not only continued her managerial duties, but she also began to participate on the court. By the end of the season she was able to join the team in some non-contact shooting and ball handling drills. She sent a powerful message to all of those in our program, Paige is committed, Paige is competitive, Paige is hard working and Paige will be back!

Luke’s TCO Comeback Story takes us back to June 26th, 2018. Most parents assume that at some point in their athletes’ career that there will be minor injuries along the way. Fortunately, most parents won’t have to experience a major injury suffered by their child. Unfortunately, for our son, Luke, he did suffer a major injury. Luke tore his ACL in his left knee while playing basketball. At first, we were all hopeful that it wasn’t anything too serious, maybe just a small meniscus tear, but after a trip to TCO Urgent Care and then a follow up a week later with Dr. Thomas Conner, we were unfortunately given the bad news.

We were told in our consultation with Dr. Conner that Luke would not be able to participate in any sports his junior year and that he would be out of sports for 9-12 months. A tough thing to hear for a young man who had a great sophomore year of basketball – being named MVP his sophomore year and chosen as a captain for his junior year – and very excited for the upcoming season.

On July 24, 2018 (2 days before Luke’s 17th birthday) he underwent his ACL surgery. Dr. Conner and his team were amazing and we were very pleased with the surgery results and the care he received. While the first few days of post-surgery were not fun or easy for Luke, he got through those days with visits, messages and phone calls from caring family, friends, teammates and coaches.

Luke met Tyler Douglass 6 days after surgery for his first physical therapy session. I could immediately tell that Luke was very comfortable with Tyler and that they would hit it off. Tyler explained and talked to Luke in a way that worked best for a 17-year-old. Tyler was very focused on Luke, his plan for Luke, and he pushed Luke to work hard, do his best and keep going. He explained to Luke that there would be challenging and frustrating times ahead, but to push through. As Luke’s mom, I appreciated the care and concern that Tyler gave Luke. Tyler has gone above and beyond. He has encouraged and supported Luke and we will be forever grateful for all he has done and continues to do, as Luke still checks in with Tyler periodically since he still has a few months left to go.

At Luke’s 3-month mark, he had an incredible opportunity (brought to us by Tyler) to go to the Training HAUS in Eagan to have his knee tested and see how PT was going for Luke and where his knee was at physically. We were so impressed with their wonderful staff who worked with Luke, especially Michael Kiely. Luke was put through some rigorous tests, using state of the art equipment, given so much support and some frank honesty from Michael about doing your PT, staying on track, getting stronger, holding yourself accountable and working hard. Those words that were shared with Luke have been very meaningful and motivational.

Luke continued seeing Tyler very frequently until about 4 months post-op. At 4 months, we decided to sign Luke up for the STAR program, on the recommendation from Dr. Conner and Tyler. Luke worked very closely with Steve Thorkildson during this program. What an amazing program for Luke! Luke and a few others were basically “piloting” this program. At this point, the high school basketball season had started for Luke and his teammates and it was tough on Luke. Luke would go to practices to watch and support his teammates and then have to leave early on the days he had PT and/or STAR. Luke was very dedicated on getting stronger and he had great results! Since he couldn’t be playing basketball, it was important for him to have another activity to feed a new passion. Luke had great results at his 6-month testing at the Training HAUS and everyone was thrilled to know that STAR was working for Luke and his commitment and dedication to rehab was paying off.

It was then decided that Luke was finished with STAR after reaching the goals he needed to. He then moved on to the ACE program, where he works with Eric Seppelt and Nicole Sheehan. Luke started this program the middle of February and is enjoying being able to do more sport specific activities! As a parent, it is very reassuring to have all of these wonderful opportunities like the STAR and ACE programs and we would highly recommend them.

Luke has remained very determined through this whole process, which is not always easy for a 17-year-old. He knows how important his PT and rehab is and that it is all crucial to being able to return to sport. We are hopeful and optimistic that this summer he will be back on the basketball court, ready to go. As parents, it may be a bit nerve wracking at first to watch him, but we will know that physically, Luke’s knee will be ready. And for that, we thank every single TCO employee who has pushed and supported Luke. He still has a few months to go, his Comeback Story isn’t quite over, but it has been an inspiring one so far! A quote I have leaned on over these past months “Every setback is a setup for a comeback. God wants to bring you out better than you were before.” We are so proud of our son Luke, and so thankful to TCO!

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!

In August of 2012, I began working on my bachelor of arts degree in fashion designs. During this time, I had fallen on some ice. Not knowing how injured I was, I jumped up and went back to class. The pain in my leg began but I was determined to get my degree and kept on with my daily life, including graduation in 2016. Before meeting Dr. Crowe, I had suffered with the most intense pain in my right leg for seven years. Due to this pain, it prevented me from utilizing my degree (ex. not being able to participate in Fashion week). Being a fashion designer is something I have dreamed of becoming since I was a little girl and now that I have had my surgery, I can finally live my childhood dream. Thank you Dr. Crowe and Brianna Randall, PA-C for giving me my life back!

Luke’s TCO Comeback Story takes us back to June 26, 2018. Most parents assume that at some point in their athlete’s career, there will be minor injuries along the way. Fortunately, most parents won’t have to experience a major injury suffered by their child. Unfortunately, for our son, Luke, he did suffer a major injury. Luke tore his ACL in his left knee while playing basketball. At first, we were all hopeful that it wasn’t anything too serious, maybe just a small meniscus tear, but after a trip to TCO Urgent Care and then a follow up a week later with Dr. Thomas Conner, MD., we were unfortunately given the bad news.

We were told in our consultation with Dr. Conner that Luke would not be able to participate in any sports his junior year, he would be out of sports for 9-12 months. A tough thing to hear for a young man who had a great sophomore year of basketball – being named MVP his sophomore year and chosen as a captain for his junior year – and very excited for the upcoming season.

On July 24, 2018 (2 days before Luke’s 17th birthday) he underwent his ACL surgery. Dr. Conner and his team were amazing and we were very pleased with the surgery results and the care he received. While the first few days of post-surgery were not fun or easy for Luke, he got through those days with visits, messages and phone calls from caring family, friends, teammates and coaches.

Luke met Tyler Douglass, PT 6 days after surgery for his first physical therapy session. Immediately I could tell that Luke was very comfortable with Tyler and that they would hit it off. Tyler explained and talked to Luke in a way that worked best for a 17-year-old. Tyler was very focused on Luke, his plan for Luke, and he pushed Luke to work hard, do his best and keep going. He explained to Luke that there would be challenging and frustrating times ahead, but to push through. As Luke’s Mom, I appreciated the care and concern that Tyler gave Luke. Tyler has gone above and beyond. He has encouraged and supported Luke and we will be forever grateful for all he has done and continues to do, as Luke still checks in with Tyler periodically since he still has a few months left to go.

At Luke’s 3-month mark, he had an incredible opportunity (brought to us by Tyler) to go to the Training HAUS in Eagan to have his knee tested and see how PT was going for Luke and where his knee was at physically. We were so impressed with their wonderful staff who worked with Luke, especially Michael Kiely. Luke was put through some rigorous tests, using state of the art equipment, given so much support and some frank honesty from Michael about doing your PT, staying on track, getting stronger, holding yourself accountable and working hard. Those words that were shared with Luke have been very meaningful and motivational.

Luke continued seeing Tyler very frequently until about 4 months post op. At 4 months, we decided to sign Luke up for the STAR program, on the recommendation from Dr. Conner and Tyler. Luke worked very closely with Stephen Thorkildson during this program. What an amazing program for Luke! Luke and a few others were basically “piloting” this program. At this point, the high school basketball season had started for Luke and his teammates and it was tough on Luke. Luke would go to practices to watch and support his teammates and then have to leave early on the days he had PT and/or STAR. Luke was very dedicated on getting stronger and he had great results! Since he couldn’t be playing basketball, it was important for him to have another activity to feed a new passion. Luke had great results at his 6-month testing at the Training HAUS and everyone was thrilled to know that STAR was working for Luke and his commitment and dedication to rehab was paying off.

It was then decided that Luke was finished with STAR after reaching the goals he needed to. He then moved on to the ACE program, where he worked with Eric Seppelt and Nicole Sheehan. Luke started this program the middle of February and is enjoying being able to do more sport specific activities! As a parent, it is very reassuring to have all of these wonderful opportunities like the STAR and ACE programs and we would highly recommend them.

Luke has remained very determined through this whole process, which is not always easy for a 17-year-old. He knows how important his PT and rehab is and that it is all crucial to being able to return back to sport. We are hopeful and optimistic that this summer he will be back on the basketball court, ready to go. As parents, it may be a bit nerve wracking at first to watch him, but we will know that physically, Luke’s knee will be ready. And for that, we thank every single TCO employee who has pushed and supported Luke. He still has a few months to go, his Comeback Story isn’t quite over, but it has been an inspiring one so far! A quote I have leaned on over these past months “Every setback is a setup for a comeback. God wants to bring you out better than you were before.” We are so proud of our son Luke, and so thankful to TCO!

In 2015, I had a severe knee injury in a football game. I had been playing semi-pro woman’s football for about 4 years. My initial surgery was done at another Ortopedic practice. The second injury occurred 18 months later (also in a football game), after I was told my knee was stronger than it had been pre-injury, and I returned to the same practice. My knee did not heal correctly and therefore I had a 3rd surgery (all on the same knee, all by the same practice). I went in for my 1 year check up after surgery #3 and was told I would need a 4th surgery because it still wasn’t right. I was advised by Kim Kotila to get an opinion from Dr. Larson, which he was kind enough to do in a very prompt manor. He also advised surgery, but I immediately felt much more confident in his methods and therefore scheduled with him. I had surgery #4 at TCO on Aug 22nd. I am thrilled to say that 8 months post surgery I can stand with no pain, I can run and jump with full motion/mobility and, although I will never play football professionally again, I am playing volleyball and participating in everything I enjoy –  pain free with no restriction. THANK YOU Dr. Larson and the whole TCO staff! You are life changing!