Get Todd out farming again

On Tuesday, July 25th Todd Burgstaler and his brother Brent were moving equipment on their family farm when they were rear ended by a vehicle on the road. Todd received a life altering leg injury to his left leg. Todd faces a long journey of healing ahead of him. Anyone who truly knows Todd knows his kindness, sense of humor, and love for farming. This go fund me campaign will be used to aid Todd in paying for extensive medical costs, and lost time on the farm while he recovers from his injuries. Together we can get Farmer Todd out on the tractor again.

9/1/2023 update At this time we ask for prayers of encouragement, prayers over pain management, healing, and mobility.

Uncle Todd loves company! He loves phone calls, face time, and visits! He now has an iPhone so he can FaceTime whenever he wants. The St. Cloud hospital has been wonderful with allowing visitors (even bigger groups at one time).

Todd and family want to thank all of those who have visited, prayed, and donated! Also, thanks to all those who are helping with plans for when Todd comes home.

Here are updates from the last few weeks, see dates:

8/2/23 Todd had his second surgery where they put in two plates above his knee and two plates below by the ankle. They also put a nail in with the bone of the knee with concrete on it. They also had to remove muscle and tissue that was not perfusing and getting enough circulation.

He still had the two wound VACs on when he came out of surgery. The hope was with more healing and the progression of blood flow to the left leg, after some time they would go back in and do a bone graft and skin graft.

8/17/23 Todd had been having trouble seeing out of his left eye. The eye doctor/surgeon came to the hospital and examined Todd’s eyes. Todd’s optic nerves got injured from the impact of the crash. He has Traumatic Optic Neuropathy. He lost vision in the top of the left eye. This is permanent. Todd has been taking this well, using cheater glasses and feel he has not had any additional deterioration of his sight other than the left upper eye.

Overall, the last few weeks Farmer Todd had be physiologically stable. He was working with physical (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) with getting the right (strong leg) stronger, working on personal cares, and plans for home. Todd’s pain is another aspect of care that was being treated.

8/25/23 Todd was prepped and taken to surgery for skin grafts on his left leg. Todd woke up in his room, they said we couldn’t do the surgery and that the situation and plan needed to be re-examined. At this time we didn’t know what this meant.

8/26/23 We talked to the surgeon and the floor doctor and the reason they didn’t do the skin graft yesterday (8/25) was because the surgeon got in there and the leg isn’t healing like they wanted it to. They decided the best option was to amputate the leg. It will be above the knee as the muscles and ligaments around the knee are too damaged to support the knee. It’s the best option for faster recovery, a smaller incision to deal with, easier to get around, and the most important is way less pain and not a lot of surgeries down the road. This was extremely devastating but Todd was taking it all knowing some of the overall advantages.

8/28/23 Todd had his above knee amputation. The bone surgeon said that the amputation went well. He returned back to the medical surgical floor. He only has one small drain now! Todd has been in good spirits at this time, focused on the positive aspects such as no more wound vacs and hopes for a shorter time for recovery.

8/29/23 The prosthetic professional was in today and already fit Todd’s stump with a sleeve! Additional education and plans about the prostheses was also given as it will be a process. Todd is having a lot of pain in the left “leg” and thigh, they have been trying to get it under control.

8/31/23 Todd has been moved back down to the Rehab floor and is working with PT/OT. Todd’s pain has been managed well and he is in good spirits. Plans are pain management, PT/OT, wound care, and prosthetic process.