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.
First, that required weight loss. Cooke went to the St. Luke’s Weight Management Center in Phillipsburg, where she underwent weight-loss surgery in 2022. She initially lost about 30 pounds before having knee replacement surgery in May 2024.
Dr. Adam Sadler, an orthopedic surgeon at St. Luke’s Orthopedic Care in Phillipsburg, executed the surgery using an advanced robotic-assisted system. The technology helps doctors perform such procedures with higher precision and improves outcomes.
“Jennifer came into surgery with a clear vision for her future, and she brought that same determination into her recovery,” said Dr. Sadler. “We tailored her treatment plan to give her the best foundation possible and watching her regain strength and confidence has been incredibly inspiring.”
Following the successful surgery, Cooke began putting her new knee through rehab in May 2024. It was initially difficult and frustrating because she couldn’t get her quadriceps to fire properly.
That’s when Cooke’s rehab team pointed her forward. Thomas (Tom) Sadler, DPT, at Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s, helped Cooke to overcome that initial roadblock. Within two weeks, her quadriceps and knee were synchronized, and Cooke was getting stronger. By July, she had successfully 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 (Tom). “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.”
But she wasn’t finished there. Cooke had found that her weight-loss progression stalled and collaborated with her team at St. Luke’s Weight Management Center to explore further options. They found a metabolic issue that prevented Cooke from losing further weight. She began taking a low-dose GLP-1 in early 2025 and has lost an additional 90 pounds. Cooke continues her weight-loss journey with St. Luke’s.
The comprehensive care Looke received is a testament to St. Luke’s overall excellence. This past fall, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ranked St. Luke’s #1 – ahead of Houston Methodist and Mayo Clinic, two of the nation’s most prestigious institutions – as the nation’s top health system for quality, safety, and patient experience. This objective recognition, based on public data reported to the government, reaffirmed St. Luke’s preeminent position among the leading health systems in the country.
Before Cooke’s weight loss and knee replacement, pain governed her life. At Moravian Academy’s Bethlehem campus, she labored to climb a flight of stairs. On a trip to Walt Disney World before the surgery, Cooke returned to her hotel room in tears with a leg swollen from hip to ankle.
Now, Cooke doesn’t flinch when going upstairs at work. During that Hawaii trip, Cooke and her husband hiked trails to waterfalls, which she never could have done before. Most important, Cooke takes her grandchildren on walks around St. Luke’s Anderson Campus and doesn’t need a break.
“I can chase my grandkids,” she said. “That is truly what pushed me to go further and figure it out.”
