I Can Take on the Day, Pain-Free

Clara’s Journey with ROSA® Knee System

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When I retire in a few years, I want to enjoy it rather than taking ibuprofen all day to get through the pain and relying on my cane to get around. After my first knee surgery-my cane is in the closet and that ibuprofen isn’t needed!

- Clara O-Steen

Clara O’Steen is nearing the one-year anniversary of her robot-assisted (ROSA®) knee surgery performed in July 2022. Born and raised in Lakeland, the job she loves most is being a supermom to her two daughters. As her daughters grew and started families of their own, Clara began to tend more to her own health.

“As a mom, you love to prioritize your family and are always there for them first. Now that my kids are grown, and I am now a grandma, I realized I needed to take care of myself too.”

Clara's Road to Pain Relief

Retirement for some may look like an ending, but for many, it’s an opportunity to become more active, enjoying activities that the typical workday doesn’t allot time to enjoy. Clara wants to garden with her husband, walk miles in the early cool mornings with her Bluetick Coonhound, Belle, and swim with her granddaughter at the beach. However, her pain continued to hold her back and she was still nervous to go through with making that big decision.

Even with her hesitations, Clara thought of her family.

“My family are my biggest supporters. They could see the pain I was in and knew this surgery would change my life. They told me that I could do this–and they were right!”

With her family ready to cheer her on and support her, Clara’s biggest motivating factor was her pain. Her intense pain in her right knee was bone on bone causing her to rely on a cane to move around. Walking into work would be a daily challenge and she counted the minutes until she could get home to ice her knee. She tried each remedy from cortisone shots to knee braces to ibuprofen every 4-6 hours.

As each remedy began to fail as the pain increased over the years, Clara’s confidence in her own mobility also dwindled.

“When I would get up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, I would stand up, walk a few steps, and my knee would buckle from the pain causing me to fall. I would fall in my own house. Being accident prone was new to me and it was a huge wake up call. I decided it was time to take care of this.”

Clara met with Dr. Wicks, an LRH orthopedic surgeon, specializing in Sports Medicine. Dr. Wicks determined her eligibility for ROSA® knee surgery and encouraged Clara to feel confident about this life-changing decision.

“Dr. Wicks was amazing. He could see my worry but made me feel good about taking this step. He knew I wanted to keep working for a few years before I retire, and we knew doing the ROSA® surgery would be the best option for a faster recovery. At that point, it was a no-brainer.”

What is ROSA®?

Medical advancements are pushing forward to give patients even greater outcomes and recoveries. These advancements may increase efficiency during surgery, create a fast recovery timeline, reduce the need for pre-operative scans, and even reduce blood loss. What about an instrument that does all of this and more?

The ROSA® Knee System works alongside surgeons in a robot-assisted knee replacement surgery to increase accuracy during surgery giving patients a speedier and less painful recovery. Lakeland Regional Health offers this as Polk County’s only ROSA® Knee System.

You may be wondering if there are truly noticeable differences between traditional knee replacement surgery and ROSA® knee surgery. Marijke McKinley knows this to be true from first-hand experience.

Ready for Surgery

On July 23, 2022 Dr. Wicks performed the ROSA® knee surgery on Clara’s right knee. Surgery went perfectly and Clara was on the road to recovery. She happily recalls the incredible physical therapy staff who helped her regain mobility right after surgery.

“The PT staff is tremendous. They are so good at what they do, and their support is incredible. I was up the day after my surgery and 100% back to work less than 2 months after my surgery date. The robotic surgery allowed me to get up and move much quicker.”

Prior to surgery Clara discussed the different surgical options with Dr. Wicks. After learning the clear benefits of the ROSA® surgery, such as a smaller scar, quicker recovery time, and less postoperative pain, she is so grateful that ROSA® was an option for her.

“I was worried about the recovery time and having to depend on my amazing family for support. But with the robot-assisted surgery, I had a shorter recovery time and was back to work so much quicker than I thought possible. I have healed up wonderfully and even my scar looks great!”

Clara is Back to Living

Clara is back to a more active lifestyle thanks to her successful knee surgery. She has even decided to have her left knee done in the fall. Like many patients who are hesitant to take this step, Clara’s quality of life has immensely improved, and she is so grateful to have made this decision.

“This surgery has changed my life. I can now walk in the cool mornings with Belle, run errands, stop at the grocery store on the way home, be out in the garden with my husband-supervising of course”, she chuckles. “I can take on the day how I want to, without my knee pain holding me back-that is a gift.”

Total Knee Replacement
at Lakeland Regional Health

If you’re ready to get back to living life pain-free, we are ready to care just for you with Polk County’s only ROSA® Knee System.