Jennifer Cooke endured years of knee pain that made even basic tasks difficult. She called them the “silly things,” like bending over, climbing stairs, or simply walking around the block.
“You realize that those silly things mean a lot,” Cooke said.
Now, the 53-year-old Bethlehem resident lives life full of those silly things. Through a multi-platform care plan guided by her St. Luke’s Health Network team, Cooke has lost 120 pounds and walks better than ever with a new right knee. She went hiking through Hawaii and can twirl her grandchildren, who inspired Cooke to transform herself.
“I’m healthy,” said Cooke, who works at Moravian Academy’s Bethlehem campus. “I have never been this thin and fit in my life. Not to be in pain constantly is amazing.”
Cooke had spent much of her life in pain. Having played softball and skied in her youth, Cooke developed knee problems that required four surgeries, two for a torn meniscus. The pain grew substantially in her 40s, but she delayed another procedure through cortisone shots. But when her grandchildren were born, Cooke had new motivation. She needed to explore options to fix her knee.
Cooke ended up undergoing a successful knee replacement, but initially struggled with recovery. That’s when Thomas Sadler, PT, DPT stepped in. Within two weeks, her quadriceps and knee were synchronized, and Cooke was getting stronger. By July, she had completed physical therapy and felt better than ever.
“He kept me calm and kept me going,” Cooke said of Thomas Sadler. “Once we got the quadriceps going, therapy went quickly.”
“Jennifer faced some challenges early on, but her determination was relentless,” said Sadler. “It was a difficult climb initially however once her quadriceps engaged, her strength improved, her endurance took off, and confidence soared. She was quite successful with performing any intervention given to her after that moment.”
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