In June 2024, Carla Wilson finally began a journey to address a longstanding problem with her knees.
“I could do no prolonged walking at all; it was just really painful,” Wilson, 57, said. “Just everything that goes along with bone on bone pain … just constant pain.”
She had tried everything – cortisol shots, gel injections – but nothing seemed to help. She kept putting off surgery due to her husband’s health issues.
“It got to the point where it was affecting my quality of life,” she said. The pain made her work at her two jobs difficult.
The Tollesboro resident did a lot of research and landed on James Rollins, MD, CHI Saint Joseph Medical Group – Orthopedics in Mount Sterling.
“As far as an orthopedic knee surgeon, his ratings are off the roof,” Wilson said.
The June surgery to repair her right knee went very well, but her second surgery for her left knee in December went even better.
Between the surgeries, Saint Joseph Mount Sterling had purchased a Mako surgical robot, which, according to Dr. Rollins, allows for increased precision during the surgery. The robot uses a CT scan of the patient to help formulate the plan for replacement.
“We will do minor adjustments based on the patient’s ligaments,” Dr. Rollins said. “Once the plan is finalized, the robot is brought in to make the cuts, with my guidance, and the precision of the cuts and less dissection for the patients gives the patient a close-to-perfect replacement every time with great balance and stability.”
One primary benefit is a quicker recovery.
A week out of her second surgery using the robot, Wilson could see the difference. She was the first patient at Saint Joseph Mount Sterling to have surgery using the robot.
“I can see a difference between what we did with traditional surgery on my right knee and what we did robotically with my left knee,” she said. “Just trying to get up and get around seems like it’s a lot better … it seems a little bit faster than last time.”
Both Dr. Rollins and Dr. Anup Chattha are trained on use of the robot, ensuring patients in Montgomery and surrounding counties don’t have to drive elsewhere for orthopedic care.
“Having this technology will benefit our area tremendously and give patients confidence of a great knee hip or partial replacement,” Dr. Rollins said. It also ensures Saint Joseph Mount Sterling is able to recruit high quality surgeons in the future.
From his standpoint, Dr. Rollins said the equipment “gives us knowledge that the knee was put in perfect and the balance was exactly what the patient needed, another reassurance of the replacement surgery being done correctly and accurately and almost as perfect as one could do for that particular patient.”
As for Wilson, she didn’t know she would be the first patient where the robot was used. “I’m thankful (Dr. Rollins) was willing to take the time to get the training on the robot and be the doctor that he is … he’s just great,” she said.
At CHI Saint Joseph Health, our orthopedic experts treat a full range of orthopedic conditions to help you get back on track. Schedule an appointment by calling 859.313.2255 or find an orthopedic provider online.
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Spirit of Health magazine's print edition is distributed quarterly and focuses on topics related to our CHI Saint Joseph Health purpose and values.
