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Patient Story of: Annie Dino

Bethel, CT

Knee Revision (Revision Total Knee Replacement)

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Today I continue to experience the physical, psychological and social benefits of the care I received from Dr. Gausden and her team.

Annie Dino

In 2023, I had two partial knee replacements. Both failed within nine months. In the months that followed, the failures proved to be complex and unstable.

Over the next year, I saw several doctors. Many were hesitant to take my case or could not offer a clear plan of care. During that same time, I lived with increasing chronic pain and a steady loss of function. As a personal trainer and avid athlete, this affected nearly every part of my life. I moved back and forth between discouragement, anger and fear as I watched my abilities and my passions slowly diminish.

I eventually began doing my own research, and I had the great fortune of finding Elizabeth Gausden, MD. From day one, I knew I was in the right place. Dr. Gausden was everything I could have hoped for: exquisitely skilled, systematic, personable, confident yet humble and compassionate.

She also has the finest medical and office support team, and they supported me every step of the way. Insurance issues, appointments, tests, surgical scheduling – they handled all of it with swift, efficient professionalism and kindness.

Dr. Gausden performed both of my surgeries, the first in October 2024 and the second in July 2025. After a long road of healing, rehabilitation and training, I completed a hike with 2,500 feet of vertical gain exactly one year after my second surgery. I had not been able to do that in nearly seven years. Getting back to hiking had been a major goal, and I was ecstatic.

Perhaps more important, before I met Dr. Gausden I had nearly resigned myself to never again having the active, joyful life I had hoped for. Today I continue to experience the physical, psychological and social benefits of the care I received from Dr. Gausden and her team. As far as I am concerned, I have had the best of the best, and I will be forever grateful.