Sandy Burke

I am a veteran of five, count 'em five knee surgeries, from age 17 in 1977 to age 53 in 2013. Dr. Sabrina Strickland did my two most recent surgeries at HSS, and if I ever (God forbid!) need another, I will ask her to do that one, too.

I first visited Dr. Strickland in the late 2000s, seeking an opinion on the status of my right knee, which I had reconstructed back in 1977, as the result of a high school field hockey injury. At that time, 'reconstruction' meant using my own hamstring to fashion a new ACL and removing 100% of my cartilage. So for the ensuing 20+ years of playing all the sports I love -- tennis, skiing, swimming - plus plain ol' living, my knee was 'bone on bone' and getting worse by the year. When I visited Dr. Strickland, she advised me that while I did need a total knee replacement in the future, it was my call when do have the surgery. Meanwhile, I stopped playing tennis, and stopped running (too painful) and tried to hold out on having surgery.

Well, Dr. Strickland wound up performing surgery earlier than I expected - and on my other knee. In March 2012, I tore my left ACL and MCL while cross country skiing, and in October she performed arthroscopic surgery to repair my ACL. Five months later, feeling confident about Dr. Strickland and how great my ACL surgery was, I cried 'uncle' on my increasingly painful right knee. Dr. Strickland performed my long-awaited total knee replacement in March 2013 - 36 years after my original injury.

Today, almost exactly two years later, both my knees feel great. I'm back to doing (almost) all the sports I love, including swimming, cycling, hiking and paddling in the summer, and snow shoeing and cross country skiing in the winter. In fact, last weekend my husband and I completed the 25K Trapp Lager Nordic Ski Marathon in Stowe, VT.

I can't thank Dr. Strickland enough for giving me both my knees back!