“I’ve got my life back.”

Cassandra’s Story

Cassandra is a married mother of two, fifth grade robotics teacher in central Indiana.  She started experiencing knee pain five years ago and would take up to eight over the counter tablets to control the pain to help her get through the day.  When that didn’t work, she started looking for alternative treatments.  Her first cortisone shot relieved the pain for six months, the second lasted three months, the third only lasted two to three days.

The pain was so intense that she used crutches for two years to get to where she needed to go.  For longer distances, she borrowed her 82 year old mother’s scooter so she could go to recess with her class.

The knee pain not only took a physical but also an emotional toll on her.  Cassandra became depressed because she wasn’t living life to the fullest.  She stopped doing things with her friends, she gave up physical activities like tap dancing and swimming and couldn’t attend her kids’ extracurricular activities because she couldn’t climb the bleachers.  When Cassandra was relieved her trip to Italy was cancelled, she realized she had to do something to get her life back.

In March of 2022, Cassandra was the first patient in Indiana to have knee replacement with the VELYS™ Robotic-Assisted Solution.  Five hours after surgery, she was able to walk 100 feet, the farthest she had walked in years.  

She was able to go back to her classroom after four weeks (if you ask Cassandra, she could have gone back in three, but she enjoyed the additional week of relaxation).  She is now back to swimming, tap dancing and is looking forward to going on her rescheduled trip to Italy!  

Her robotics class even participated in a contest the hospital had to name the VELYS Robotic-Assisted Solution and won!  The hospital now refers to it as the “Kneelinksi”, a play off her last name.

Her friends and family have declared “we’ve got Cassandra back” and she encourages anyone who is considering knee surgery to not wait and make an appointment with a doctor.  “I lost so many years of my life and feel so much better now after surgery.  I’ve got my life back.”