Patient Testimonials

Dr. Coetzee is a great surgeon and more importantly, he was a very positive influence during my healing journey.  Every time we came for an appointment, I left more convinced that I could play in my final senior college season.  Because of that confidence, I overcame the physical and mental challenges from my injury.  Although our team fell just short of the playoffs this year, I was able to finish my UND college career as the #2 all-time for solo tackles, #2 all-time for tackles, 3^rd in interceptions, and 5^th in a number of other categories (i.e., pass break-ups, single season records)….and I walked off the field using my own two feet!! Next up?  Training for the NFL Combine. I’m forever grateful.

Dr. Ridley is a smart and caring Orthopedic Surgeon. He knows his stuff. I’ll be using him for my shoulder replacement next year. I am very pleased with his intelligence and bedside manner.

Staying healthy and active in winter is hard enough. When you add COVID on top of that, it seems impossible! Feeling cooped up, I decided to meet a friend to play some tennis at an indoor court. Just as we were finishing up, I felt my ankle roll. Originally, I thought I could walk it off, but after taking 4 steps, I knew the pain I was feeling wasn’t going to go away on its own. It was something not even ice and elevation could fix. That’s when I contacted TCO to start my healing process.

I met with Dr. William Engasser and his team, and they were so kind and caring. We discussed my injury, and it was determined I had sustained a Lisfranc injury of the foot. Dr. Engasser and his team went through the step-by-step process of how my recovery would go and made me feel safe in their hands.

Following my surgery, Dr. Engasser told me the procedure went even better than he had hoped! I will be starting the physical therapy process soon, but I am more than confident with the TCO team behind me. I know am in great hands! Thank you so much TCO.

What I thought was just an ankle sprain, turned into a life threatening emergency. After the swelling went down on my foot, I thought everything was good. Turns out, I had broken my foot and was unaware the bone had become infected. As the infection became worse, I started to feel extremely sick and ended up in the emergency room. Thanks to TCO’s Dr. TJ Ridley, they found the issue and immediately prepped me for surgery. I remember Dr. Ridley looking at the MRI and saying, “This surgery has gone from trying to save your foot, to saving your life.”

Due to the severe infection, I needed a below the knee amputation. It was a shock, but considering the alternative, there was nothing else to do. I spent 6 days in the hospital, and it took two surgeries to make sure I was clear of the infection. Dr. Ridley assured me I would be up and walking before too long, and after a few weeks of recovery at home, I was able to get the staples removed. Things were progressing nicely and Dr. Ridley referred me to some amazing people who fitted for my prosthetic leg.

By the time I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Ridley, I was able to walk into his office without aid of crutches or a cane. My goal was to be able to walk on my own by Christmas and I’m proud to say I accomplished just that. I have now finished up my physical therapy, and my life is pretty much back to normal. Dr. Ridley and his staff were excellent to work with, always available to answer any questions I had, and helped me maintain a positive attitude, which I believe helped my recovery. I can’t say thank you enough. You literally saved my life.

Watch Bill’s Story Here: https://streamable.com/getje6

My injury happened at the start of summer, by falling on some slippery grass. I was brought by ambulance to Fairview Ridges Hospital. Along with my spirit being shattered, my ankle was too. Dr. Szalapski put me back together with 10 screws and a plate. He is an amazing doctor with great bedside manner. I love his sense of humor. He has great supporting staff and I received wonderful care from everybody at TCO. If I ever need that specialty again, I would not hesitate to go back to Dr. Szalapski and his staff.

This review will be somewhat different from others as my history with Dr. Cammack goes back nearly 15 years and 4 surgeries, with a 5th planned. I met Dr. Cammack after a suicide attempt in February of 2005, which resulted in significant injuries; including a pelvis broken in 3 places, 3 vertebra in my back fractured, and both heels were completely smashed, along with quite a bit of internal bleeding. Due to my injuries, Dr. Cammack was assigned to me to oversee my case. I liked him straight away, he reminds me of Doogie Howser – a mix of extreme intelligence and genuine ‘aw shucks’ personality. He went through my injuries and talked about the surgeries I would need to be fixed and what to expect.

TCO is a large practice with doctors, specializing in all kinds of surgeries. Dr. Cammack did not pass me over to another member of the practice. He felt that I really needed to see dedicated specialists who focused exclusively on the pelvis and lower back and that he would do the research and would know more the next day. The next morning he informed me he had narrowed it down to two different teams and would have the answer the next day. Thursday morning he walked in, made sure I was okay and had everything I needed, then told me that he had spoken to the other surgeons and I would be going to HCMC early Friday morning to have the surgeries. He did the research himself (no assistants) and spoke to the surgeons so that they could clear their schedules to see me right away.

The surgeries went well except for the fact that I found out I am immune to morphine. On Monday I was back to North Memorial and back under Cammack’s care. Every day that I was in the hospital he would come and see me, regardless of which ward I was in. Including the psychiatric ward after finding out I am type 2 bipolar. If he was out of the hospital then one of his colleagues would see me. He performed both ankle surgeries at the same time (I figured it was best to get it all over with at once). He was always positive about my recovery and honest about what I could expect.

In the decade and a half that I have known him, he has gone from supremely talented doctor, to a learned friend who helped to take care of me at the worst moments of my life. If you give him a compliment, he gets genuinely uneasy but in a down-to-earth manner. He is humble, genuine, and nothing is forced about him. What you see is what you get. I am extraordinarily grateful to him for his years of taking care of my battered feet. I can honestly say that I can walk because of him.

Around March 1, 2019, I had an accident. I slipped and broke my ankle. It turned out to be a nasty combination of fractures, displacement and ligament injuries. I was sent to Dr. McGarvey for evaluation and the eventual surgery. He explained everything that was about to take place. His preparation about what to expect really helped me deal with the procedure and the aftermath. I am thrilled with the progress I am having due to the outstanding job Dr. McGarvey did on performing the surgery. I don’t have better words than to say aside from THANK YOU DR. MCGARVEY…you are the best!

I was a patient of Dr. Coetzee at Twin Cities Orthopedics. I have CMT (Charcot Marie Tooth Disease) which is a genetic muscle and bone disease. I injured my left ankle from a fall in September of 2017 and after months of limping around and extreme pain, I saw Dr. Coetzee and he performed surgery on June 6, 2018. He did an ankle fusion with a plate. After 5 months of recovery, I was still having a lot of pain in my foot, so Dr. Coetzee discovered that my plate was digging into my bone and new bone was beginning to grow over it. In November 2018, he removed the plate and screws from my ankle.

I am walking now with more mobility and able to do things that I couldn’t for almost a year. However, I continue to have swelling and pain in my ankle. On April 30, 2019 I saw Dr. Coetzee and looking at my Xrays he stated that my bones are healed nicely but with the swelling problem he said that I am having problems with my soft tissue, so he referred me to Susan Anderson, who is a therapist at TCO. She was wonderful and recommended some compression wraps and PT to reduce my pain and swelling and is very confident that I can overcome this problem. I am currently following this plan of treatment, my faith is strong and I believe I can improve my quality of life.

Having a disabling and degenerative muscle disease since I was a child is a very humbling and a huge character building experience. Many of my family members have this disease and has affected some worse than others. I, unfortunately, have many of the “bad” symptoms. Learning to deal with people mocking you on the way you walk, stumbling and falling down often, the pain and limited activities that I can and cannot do, has taught me to embrace the things that make me happy. I enjoy spending time with my grandchildren and doing activities like fishing, 4-wheeling, camping, bonfires, and watching baseball games, which are all very satisfying for me, and I want to make to best of my life while I still can.

I am so thankful for Dr. Coetzee and his staff for their knowledge and experience and for giving me the chance to enjoy my life! Thank you.

I had an ankle injury many years ago that wasn’t properly healed. In the spring of 2018, I re-injured it. I was fortunate to see Dr. McGarvey. He examined my ankle and tried an alternate to surgery with a cortisone shot. This helped quite a bit to get me through the pain for a while, but soon it was apparent that surgery was needed. I was walking with a limp and pain. I was going to schedule the surgery but that didn’t happen due to a family crisis. I explained my situation to the staff and they were very understanding and I left with another cortisone shot in the interim. By early spring of 2019, I couldn’t handle the pain and immobility, so I went back to TCO to schedule surgery. Everyone there remembered what happened to me and was extremely caring.

I had my surgery in the beginning of March. Dr. McGarvey did and excellent job! I am now 8 weeks after my surgery and receiving physical therapy. I am walking in tennis shoes, pain free and only using 1 crutch for safety! I go back to TCO on June 5th for my final check up and will personally thank him again, along with his assistant Rhodora Roxas, and his nurse Laura!

The last exercise during my weekly Saturday ballet class involved grand jétés, nothing new for us. We heard a loud pop and I turned my head back during the jump to see what made that sound. My leg had collapsed during the landing as I injured my achilles tendon. The ballet instructor, herself a chiropractor, immediately recommended Dr. Coetzee and added that she knows several dancers who have been his patients and were very satisfied with his work. I had my surgery and I am relieved to be added to that list of happy patients with Dr. Coetzee. My ankle was strong enough to hike Monte Leone in Switzerland. I am also back to yoga and ballet (bar only – no jumping) and am looking forward to cross country skiing. A big thank you to Dr. Coetzee!