Patient Testimonials

Can’t say enough positive things about Dr. Deal and my spine surgery. I had never been through surgery as an adult and it couldn’t have been smoother. Recovery was virtually painless and the results are spectacular. I have regained most of the function I lost pre-surgery and have no pain. Dr. Deal was easy to talk to and answered all my questions. Well done!

I came to Dr. Deal for a herniated disc with neurological deficits on my left side. After looking at my MRI he recommended a microdiscectomy. He was patient in answering all my questions, quick to explain pros and cons of surgery, and made me feel heard and understood. For 4 weeks prior to surgery all I was able to do was lie in bed, and the afternoon following surgery I was standing and walking around. Seeing Dr. Deal and following his recommendation for surgery literally changed my life.

Prior to surgery, I had severe neck, shoulder and arm pain, especially in my right arm including numbness and tingling in my right arm and fingers. I also had moderate pain in my left arm. Surgery with Dr. DuBois immediately relieved much of the pain and tingling. I still have some numbness in fingers but that may be due to the length of time I went before surgery. For me, I was up and moving around in two days with little or no pain, just tired. I felt ready to go back to work with light duty in three weeks but opted to stay off for 6. Now, I am able to sleep better where as before I was losing 2 to 4 hours a night because of the discomfort.

I have had back pain since the 1990s and have had 5 previous surgeries elsewhere that didn’t work. Now, I am pain free and am excited to start umpiring baseball again. Dr. DuBois and TCO did a great job as well as the physical therapy team post-operation. Bottom line thank you TCO for giving my life back.

I had disc bulging at L3-4 and more severe at L4-5 with moderate disc degeneration. I had a L4-5 microdisectomy and felt significant relief of my back pain at this level and leg pain. Unfortunately, I still have a herniation at L3-4 that isn’t to the point of needing surgery. Disc degeneration that would require a fusion and given I am only 36, a fusion is something I want to avoid. Dr. DuBois was excellent and the L4-5 microdiscectomy made it possible to play with my twin girls again. If further surgery is needed at some point, I would definitely go back to see Dr. DuBois.

I had been suffering with severe pain and numbness in my shoulder and right arm from a pinched nerve in my neck. It was so bad I couldn’t even push or pull a door open. I wasn’t able to get the care I needed from another provider so I called Twin Cities Orthopedic on a Wednesday. They got me in to see Dr. Banks the following Monday. After looking at scans of my neck he recommended spinal fusion surgery, which was performed that Thursday. When I woke up from surgery, the pain was completely gone and strength had returned to my hand. Now six weeks later, I am back to full activities, including playing tennis again, which I was afraid wouldn’t happen. I can’t say enough about the care I received from Twin Cities Orthopedics and Dr. Banks.

During early September 2018 I awoke one day with severe neck pain. I went to the TCO Orthopedic Urgent Care and was treated. Within two days I was back at the TCO Orthopedic Urgent Care because the pain had now radiated into my right arm. They referred me to Dr. Deal and physical therapy. From the first time I met Dr. Deal, I knew that I was being listened to and that I could trust him. An MRI showed I had a large herniated disc with nerve root involvement. Within a few weeks after I met Dr. Deal I started loosing strength in my right arm and was noticing that I was having difficulty brushing my hair. The pain was not getting better. I was having difficulty with keyboarding as well, which was impacting my ability to work.

On October 9 2018, I underwent a cervical disc arthroplasty. Prior to the surgery my quality of daily life was declining and I was feeling frustrated and becoming depressed. When I awoke from the anesthesia my nerve pain was gone for the first time in one month. It was a relief.

Dr. Deal gave me back my quality of life. Post-operatively I attended physical therapy and regained my neck strength and almost my entire full range of motion.

I am grateful for Dr. Deal and blessed that I had wonderful staff at TCO and Minnesota Valley Surgery Center.

I fell 15 feet. I shattered my ankle, broke my tibia in 5 different places and blew out the disc between L5-S1. Dr. DuBois installed an artificial disc in my back. It has been just under 13 months since surgery and my back feels fantastic. I have other issues in my back which prevent me from doing strenuous activities, but where the surgery was performed feels great. The pain is about 90% gone. If it weren’t for my other back and ankle issues, I would feel awesome. I can’t thank Dr. DuBios, Bonnie and the rest of his team enough for fixing me up. I was in and out of surgery in an hour. I can’t even get my tires changed that fast. Dr. DuBois is one of the best orthopedic surgeons around. I would settle for nothing less than the best.  Thank you all for fixing me up.

Before surgery, I could not walk across Home Depot without looking for a lawn chair to sit in because of aching pain in my leg. I also did not sleep well because of pain. After surgery the relief was immediate. All pain gone. I would do it again but very happy I don’t have to. Thank you Dr. DuBois!

In September of 2017, I had come to the end of my proverbial rope. After a fall in 1978 of approximately 30 feet, I had some 14 major back and neck surgeries and was now in so much pain I was ready to give up. Seven years earlier the head of Neurosurgery at a very prominent hospital told me when I came for a much anticipated appointment, “if anyone ever tells you they can help you they’re pulling your leg”. I left devastated, in tears and did not really know how much longer or how much worse things could get.

Things indeed did get worse and over the next seven years my 6 foot 6 inch frame folded over too about 5’7”. The pain was completely over the top when I decided I had two choices; one very final, the other was search for a surgeon capable and willing to save my life. I started searching for Twin Cities Neurosurgeons and actually read the bio’s when I stumbled on Dr. Harris. In bold type he stated that he specialized in brain and complex spinal surgery. I had no choice but to see if he was serious, my appointment was made.

His staff treated me with a great deal of respect and seemed to streamline the process because the next thing I knew I was standing in front of Dr. Harris being told that he could help me! He warned me that it would be the worst thing I had ever been through and I kind-of chuckled because I had been through staph infections of the spine, multiple 3+ level fusions, I didn’t think I had anything to lose.

The 13 hour surgery was all that Dr. Harris promised. He removed a four level bad fusion done in 1988 and then went on to fuse virtually everything but the kitchen sink. I was up and walking the first day after surgery with huge grin on my face as I again stood 6ft 5in tall. In May of 2018, seven months after surgery I played golf for the first time in ten years without any increased pain. Yes my swing was really ugly but it didn’t matter, it was fantastic. The improvement in my quality of life cannot be understated, you need to be patient and persistent and understand you have a very long road ahead and the possibility of a much better outlook for tomorrow.

The recovery took a little over a year but Dr. Harris most definitely saved my life on October the 19th, 2017.