Patient Testimonials

I have had knee pain for several years. It got to the point that I could not take it anymore. I played hockey when I was younger and I have been a police officer for close to 28 years. I have been involved in several incidents throughout my career which have resulted in further pain. Each time I noticed the pain was getting worse. I kept putting it off and thought I could live with it. My wife convinced me to see a doctor. Our oldest daughter was getting married in August and I thought about me and her walking down the aisle. I saw Dr. Hunt and he went through all my options. What a wonderful man. He showed me compassion and was straight forward with me. I had a partial knee replacement in April of 2018. The surgery went well. I stayed over night in Plymouth and received excellent care from your nurses. My physical therapy was at your Burnsville location. They pushed me and helped in my recovery.

I walked my daughter down on her wedding day. I will also be retiring in May of 2019 as a police officer. I saw Dr. Hunt today for my one year check-up. I was again impressed by his bed side manner. You should be proud on how he and his staff represent TCO.

Thank you for the great care,
Gregg

Dr. Mark Fischer saw me quickly and scheduled surgery in 2 days. I had a horribly fractured wrist that needed 2 plates and 10 screws to repair. He was a wonderful technician with great bedside manner. I healed with no infection or complications. Therapy has helped get me close to normal. It has been 7 weeks. I would recommend him highly.

I suffered my injury last summer on a vacation weekend to the Upper Pennisula. We were visiting family and enjoying a little “heaven on earth”, as my brother lives on a beautiful piece of property right on the shores of Lake Michigan / Big Bay De Noc. Early on the Sunday morning we planned to head for home, I decided I wanted to swim one last time in the lake. It had been such a pleasant, enjoyable day in the water the day before, so I just wanted that one last swim. The lake bottom is really rocky and you have to pick your way carefully in before you get out to sandy bottom. I never got out that far. I was wearing water shoes and thought I was being cautious enough, but before I knew even what happened, I was down in the water and instantly felt excruciating pain in my left wrist. As I recovered from the initial shock and tried to sort out what had happened, I picked my left arm up. I remember looking at it and seeing how oddly deformed it was, the pain registering in my brain and realizing that “something ain’t right here.” I had to crawl back in to shore, on my knees and using my elbows. Let’s just say that my entourage and I packed up our stuff and headed back for home a little earlier than we had planned. I decided that I would wait until I got back home and to a healthcare facility I was comfortable with. That was a loooonnnnngggg 6 hour car ride back home.

Now, enter TCO. When we got back to my hometown of Stillwater, MN, I went immediately to the ER at Lakeview Hospital. I was informed that, indeed, I had broken bones and suffered a “Colles” fracture of the wrist; a common injury that occurs when you extend your arm to break your fall. The ER doctor did the best he could for me that day and then gave me the referral to TCO. He informed me that I might need surgery to repair my wrist if TCO thought they couldn’t reset the bones properly. I was scared. I had never broken any bones before and to think I might need surgery? Yes, I was frightened at the thought and whether or not I would regain complete function of my hand and wrist again.

I was fortunate to get into TCO within a week of my injury and saw Dr. Ryan Karlstad. He specializes in the hand and wrist. He immediately put me at ease, he was so kind and soft spoken and yet honest. He gave me a few options and surgery was a definate part of any of the options. Of course he had to inform me of the risks of surgery and the possibilities of not recovering full mobility or function of my hand and wrist afterwards. I opted to have him do an ORIF (open reduction and internal fixation) using a plate and screws. He informed me this would be the optimal route to go for best and long lasting positive results. Within a week of my injury, I was in the High Pointe surgical suites getting my fracture repaired!

I started occupational therapy very soon after with Bonnie VanDeMark OTR/L, CHT. I loved Bonnie. She is about the same age as me and shared the same sense of humor as me. I related so well to her that I actually enjoyed going to my sessions with her. I was almost sad when we were all done! Aside from her having a such a wonderful personality, she really knows her stuff! She gave me new and progressive exercises each time I saw her and measured my progress every time. Now, I am a really good patient, too, and always did my exercises religiously since I obviously wanted to get back to “normal” mobility and activity. I had to do my part.

I enjoy walking, hiking, yoga, Pilates, and my newest and latest passion, pickleball. You don’t realize until you can’t do things, how frustrating it is to have to require help to make a bed, fold clothes, put on a shirt, open a jar, or carry a laundry basket downstairs. Nope, I was going to do everything in my power to recover completely because I am fiercely independent (and am quite particular in how things ought to be done, my family will tell you I am a little OCD that way).

Even with my fractured wrist, though, and splint on, I went to my 3 x week Pilates classes faithfully. And there was no reason not to continue my daily walks, I didn’t break a leg, after all. I figured I would do as much as I could physically without the use of one arm, as there was no reason not to, right? I remember my Pilates instructor and the usual Pilates groupies marveling at my one armed planks, three point push ups, and “off balance” roll downs. Within a few short weeks, I was doing full planks, pushups and weight bearing yoga and Pilates exercises with no pain. That’s incredible and I just can’t believe that I am “back to normal” activity and mobility again, pain free!

I thank the huge role my caregivers and therapist from TCO did for me in this whole recovery process. I would probably not be considered a success otherwise. I guess my point also would be to emphasize to not count yourself out. Be in the mindset that if you do all that is requested of you from your TCO care team, you too, can be a successful “Comeback Story” like this 60 year old, retired, ordinary Grandma… ME! Thank you TCO!

After a bad experience with 2 knee replacements and years of pain from another physician, I went to Dr. Arntson with hopes he could help me. He has done a great job revising both knees and making them pain free. I would recommend to any patients to see Dr. Arntson!

Dr. Arntson was amazing and so helpful before, during and after my surgery. He was thoughtful, thorough and set me at ease that a hip replacement was the right thing to do! I was in severe pain before my surgery – worked out 5 days a week in pain. 6 months later and I workout pain free, have no pain and I’m living life to the fullest. It was a blessing! Dr. A is the best!

I had my left total knee replacement, July 19, 2018 and it went really well. Therapy was really effective. I had my right total knee replacement on October 18, 2018 and it went really well too. Therapy was good too. Dr. Owen O’Neill and assistant Jessie are super helpful. I am now ready to have surgery on my spine, since my knees are doing so well. April 2019. I AM VERY PLEASED WITH TCO.

While I was able to walk with a slight limp before my total hip replacement (right side), I had a tough time getting up from chairs. So much so that I dreaded sitting down. I also stopped exercising, which is important to me as a pre-diabetic person. I was delighted when Dr. Meisterling mentioned that my best option was to have total hip replacement. There was a root cause to my problem and there was a solution. I did not really have any anxiety over the surgery, neither before nor after. I was just looking forward to being able to move without dreading sharp pains or inability to get up in public.

The surgery went smoothly. By the evening, the Physical Therapist at the hospital took me out for a walk. My family and I found that amazing. It was with the aid of a walker, but it was still amazing. After 2 nights at the hospital, I was able to get into our van to go home due to the “training” I received at the hospital. I continued to use my walker and slowly introduced the cane. Now, 6 weeks later, I am walking without any aids. Thanks to my TCO Physical Therapist, Andy, I have understood the importance and purpose of each exercise. And again, I am watchful of any limitations or feelings of pain, which I share with Andy. Andy then suggests things we can do to address these concerns. My walk is not 100% back to normal, but very near. For a person who just had surgery 7 weeks ago, I find it amazing. Now I can’t wait to exercise so I can keep diabetes at bay.

My primary care provider suggested Dr. Kelly as she had worked with him for years, and said he was the best with shoulder repair. I met him and some of his team in 2017. I decided to follow the physical therapy route, and waited for another year. An entire year after our first meeting, my torn rotator cuff started to interrupt my sleep and I was having more bad days then good. I went back and met with him. He asked me, “are you ready to do this surgery?” I asked him, “are you?” He then told me he was ready last year. I still laugh about that. I had my surgery on 12/27/18. The pain management plan was very clearly laid out for my husband and myself to follow when we got home. I am so grateful for that thought out plan, a sheet of paper with a graph to follow. I think it made a challenging situation much more manageable. The recovery went better than I thought, and I was back to light duty work in three weeks. I respect Dr. Kelly and his team of compassionate care givers. Thanks for a new chance at life.

Dr. Seybold is the greatest surgeon. I had been waiting Dr. Chris Coetzee for years, which was 2 years on the waiting list. His partner orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Chris Larson, recommended Dr. Seybold as equally great. Thus, I didn’t wait and went for him. My surgery went well. After the surgery, I made three follow-up visits. I am also very impressed with his nice personality and high care level. Highly recommended. Look no further!

I just wanted to take a moment to let anyone interested in hand surgery to consult with Dr. Amy Moeller at Twin Cities Orthopedics (TCO). I, and my family, have had to utilize TCO on a number of occasions, and then recently I required surgery on my hand. Dr. Amy Moeller was recommended to me, and subsequently, she performed very successful surgery on my hand. I cannot speak highly enough about her abilities, as well as the attitude and performance of her team – from greeting/scheduling, to surgical environment, to the surgery itself and after-care. And I would have to emphasize her “bedside manner” – Dr. Moeller is outstanding in listening, understanding and relating. I have in the past done some consulting concerning operating room environments and safety – and hers was exemplary. Should anyone reading this need hand surgery, Dr. Moeller is the finest.