Back on Her Feet and Back to Her Active Lifestyle
Jackie Bauer of Walnutport, a mom to four athletic sons, has always lived life in motion. A runner since age 20, she carved out time daily to log 5 to 6 miles, either on her treadmill or along the scenic D&L Slatington Trail near her home.
But in October 2024, persistent hip pain began to slow her stride. She turned to a local health system, where she was diagnosed with bursitis and received a cortisone injection. The treatment offered only brief relief. “After that, I could run maybe a mile, and that was it,” she recalled. For someone used to long daily runs, the limitation was deeply frustrating.
As her pain worsened, imaging revealed a hip labral tear. Physical therapy was prescribed, but her condition deteriorated. Walking became a struggle. She needed her hands to lift her leg and found stairs nearly impossible. “I felt like a 90-year-old woman,” Jackie said. “My pain was a nine out of ten every day. Ibuprofen helped a little, but it upset my stomach.”
Determined to find answers, Jackie pursued further care, including pain management where she was diagnosed with sciatica and given another cortisone injection. But the message was clear: “How’s your hip? You have to get it fixed.” Eventually, a joint replacement specialist in Philadelphia referred her to Dr. Ajay Kanakamedala of St. Luke’s Orthopedic Care.
“We call it hip-spine syndrome,” Dr. Kanakamedala said. “We see it all the time. The hip and the back are just so connected that if your hip is hurting, you change the way you walk. You change your posture. It affects your back, or vice versa.
“I think that’s part of why maybe people weren’t convinced, because she had back issues, that anything was coming from her hip. Her back issues did get better once she had a back injection, but it didn’t fix the hip.”
Jackie appreciated Dr. Kanakamedala’s thorough approach. “He went over everything with me,” she said. “He recommended physical therapy first to help me get stronger and confirm the pain was coming from my hip.” His expertise in orthopedic sports medicine gave her hope.
On August 6, 2025, Dr. Kanakamedala performed an arthroscopic labral repair and femoral osteoplasty, a minimally invasive procedure to relieve pain, restore movement and prevent further joint damage.
Jackie began her recovery at Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s in Lehighton, focusing on rebuilding strength and mobility. She completed her final session on October 8.
“Jackie was a model patient, highly motivated and consistently compliant with both her rehab treatments and home exercise program,” says Tiven Teno, PT. “She progressed rapidly through a regimen designed to restore full range of motion and hip strength. Throughout her treatment, she experienced no pain and advanced quickly, allowing her to return to her active lifestyle with confidence.”
Today, Jackie is back to walking and cycling the trail she loves. While she hasn’t resumed running yet, she’s optimistic. “I’m just glad to be able to do everyday things without pain,” she said. Even sleeping is restful again.
Reflecting on her journey, Jackie shared, “Dr. Kanakamedala was a godsend. He gave me back my life. He told me I’d get to 75 or 80%, but I feel 100%. I just can’t believe how good I feel.”
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of more than $4.5 billion. With 23,000+ employees at 16 hospital campuses and 350+ outpatient sites, it is the Lehigh Valley’s biggest employer.
The Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.
Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 50+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 500+ residents and fellows.
St. Luke’s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. In 2025, the Network earned straight A’s from Leapfrog across all of its 11 acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 11 years in a row, including in 2021 when its flagship University Hospital was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.
Information provided to TVL by:
Sam Kennedy
