In a consultation, it was determined that I needed a reverse total right shoulder replacement. I have never heard of this procedure and was quite apprehensive. The very personable Dr. Conner and Shawn, his care coordinator, were very reassuring regarding the surgery, rehab, and recovery. And it all went as smoothly as they had predicted. I’m very thankful for Dr. Conner’s surgical skill and for the excellent follow-up care by the rehab staff. I have now regained nearly full range of motion and strength in that shoulder and arm with no pain.

Dr. Conner has replaced both a knee and a hip for me with no problems whatsoever. He listened to my concerns, offered options for treatment from least invasive to total replacement, and proceeded with my requests. I will be back for another hip replacement with all the confidence in a successful procedure.

Dr. Thomas Conner did a total knee replacement for me in May 2018. I approached him with many concerns, metal allergies, etc. There was no need to worry. Dr. Conner and his patient care coordinator, Shawn, did a wonderful job coordinating everything in getting me through the whole procedure. Every question was answered and every concern addressed, from use of drugs to getting off them, physical therapy schedule to follow up appointments to make sure all was going well. You know you are #1 priority when all is said and done. With great appreciation!

Judith L.

Dr. Conner and his staff are great! Respectful, empathetic, friendly and very knowledgeable. His staff treated me with gentle care. I have recommended TCO to anyone who needed help. Love you Dr. Conner, but I hope I don’t want to see you again. Trying to keep my body health!

Dr. Conner understood my concerns about my shoulder replacement surgery prior to the procedure. He answered any questions I had about the procedure and the healing process and any questions I had after surgery. He showed me my post-op pictures and my healing process went well and I had no pain after surgery from day 2 post-op.

I had a very good experience with Dr. Conner. Scheduled for procedure and follow up appointments in a timely manner for dates and times that worked for my schedule. Everyone was very courteous and thoroughly explained procedures.

Maple Grove Hospital has great nursing staff and food. You did great. I’d recommend Dr. Conner and TCO to anyone! God bless you all!

I received excellent consideration when my first scheduled operation had to be postponed due to a tooth infection. Dr. Conner rescheduled it a month later by adjusting his schedule. Shawn took good care of me with her “follow-ups”. The hospital staff took great care of me making sure I was comfortable.

My knee deteriorated quickly after injury and arthritis. Deciding to have a new knee was not an easy decision at age 53. Having a total knee done by Dr. Arntson was an excellent choice and experience. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. I stayed two nights at Mercy, which was a good experience. Four weeks after surgery, I felt ready to go back to my nursing job which requires walking and standing most of the day. I actually went back at six weeks which worked out well. Now it has been three months and I feel like I can do everything I want to do (except kneel on my knee).

Thank you Dr. Arntson

After 8 years of treating Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, my lymphoma seemed under control. Just after Christmas of 2016, my lower back began to ache. I went in for my routine Lymphoma check-up in early January 2017. The CT scan showed a lymph node that had not changed size in 8 years was greatly enlarged and was occupying about 25% of my L5 vertebrae. I received 8 days of radiation treatment in February to kill the cancer cells in my spin. My oncologist noted that the cancer was eliminated from my spine, but the cancer and radiation had damaged about 25% of my L5 vertebrae. I was advised that the damage may repair itself or may get worse. One month later, in March, I felt my L5 begin to crumble.

Over the next few months I saw numerous doctors about what to do. The pain and my ability to walk kept getting worse and I finally was scheduled for an MRI in September. After the MRI showed my L5 was crumbling, I was referred to and approved to see Dr. Bartie in October. At my first appointment with Dr. Bartie, he reviewed my MRI and had me do a few simple exercises. At the end of the exam he told me I would soon lose the use of my right leg if I did not have surgery. My spinal cord was almost pinched off at this time. My spinal cord was squeezed down to about a 1mm in diameter by the L5 bone chips. He also said the surgery was typically 100% successful if the patient had not had lymphoma and radiation treatment. For me he said the chances for success are about 50-50. My L5 was “a bag of bone chips” in Dr. Bartie’s words. In short, 50-50 chance of keeping the use of my legs with surgery, 100% chance of losing the use of my legs without surgery.

Dr. Bartie scheduled me for surgery November 14, 2017. He estimated the surgery would take 4 hours. The surgery took 7 hours, and I lost a liter of blood. In Dr. Bartie’s words to my wife “it was a beast of a surgery”. The day after surgery I could walk without any of the pain I previously had. My spinal cord now had a 15mm channel instead of a 1mm channel. I had pain from the surgery but that was nothing compared to the pain before surgery. I stayed in the hospital for 3 days then went home. Dr. Bartie advised me on what physical activity was appropriate next year. For 6 weeks, I stayed home doing essentially nothing. After that I start doing some light workouts at the gym, only doing exercises Dr. Bartie recommended. For 6 months, I was not to lift anything over 10 pounds. I went back to work after 6 weeks, no lifting involved with my job. After 6 months, I worked my way up to exercising with up to 50 pounds on weight machines recommended by Dr. Bartie. Today I exercise regularly at the gym, can walk at least 1 mile with no pain and am looking forward to fly fishing and scuba diving again.