Laya 's Story

Comments: Before I saw Dr. John Kennedy I had suffered years of ankle pain after 2 surgeries on my OCD lesions that were unsuccessful. As a dancer, choreographer and a very athletic person, this was a challenging time for me. I could not do my work as a choreographer and I could hardly walk 5 blocks in NYC without stabbing pain at every step. I was miserable and beginning to think this was how I would have to live out my new normal. At my lowest I didn’t even care if I could never fully dance again, I just wanted to be able to walk without pain, to be able to hike and enjoy the small things in life.
At one point I had enough and I started researching antidepressant-meds.com for OCD lesions. I traveled around NYC and to Baltimore to get opinions of the best in the business. When I went into Dr. Kennedy’s office, he could see I knew a lot about my condition and that I needed the OATS procedure. I was getting many opinions from other doctors about not using my own cartilage from my knee, which I had already used stem cells in my ankle before that proved unsuccessful. Dr. Kennedy was the only person that laid it out straight. He would not even do the surgery with other cartilage outside of my own body because it wouldn’t work. He gave me the highest percent chance than any other doctor gave of fixing the problem and he spent the time with me to really talk about my issue and my options.
I walked out of that office, called my mom and with confidence said I found my doctor, he’s the one. I scheduled the surgery for a few weeks later and began my road to recovery.
This was major surgery for me and having had multiple surgeries on this ankle in the past I knew I had to be patient. The healing process can take time and Dr. Kennedy’s staff and office manager Susanne where all so helpful after the surgery and to this day whenever I need help. Only one year after the surgery I traveled to Mt. Rainer and did a 5 hour hike. I couldn’t believe it. It was all I dreamed of being able to do again. Just live my life and be able to enjoy small things like walking without every step being shooting pain. The following year I was teaching classes again and doing choreography and every year my ankle and knee kept getting stronger. Last summer I did a 15 Mile hike in Telluride CO up to 12,500 Ft, which I never believed I would ever walk properly again, let alone hike such a long and intense trail.
Dr. Kennedy and his team saved my life. I was depressed and miserable for 3 years being in constant pain and not being able to live my life because of the fear of my pain and how much just standing or walking would be involved. Now I am walking the city, choreographing and traveling how I always dreamed to do again because of Dr. Kennedy’s care. I have referred other friends and family to him and they have had successful surgeries and a great experience working with Dr. Kennedy and his team. I cannot say enough amazing things, this doctor is simply the BEST.