Years of athletics had taken a toll on Larry Revels before his robotic knee replacement at Methodist Charlton Medical Center.
“I’m turning 70 this year,” says the retiree from Cedar Hill, “and the last five years have been an uphill struggle.”
Larry suffered for years with a bad back and arthritic joints, but that began to change when Larry got a new knee thanks to the orthopedic team at Methodist Charlton and the hospital’s new ROSA Knee System.
“It really was a 100% turnaround,” Larry says. “I wish I had gone to Methodist for everything.”
Larry (No. 40) was a star on the court for the 1974 Parrots at Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth.
WORRIED ABOUT FALLING
From the gym to the boxing ring, Larry was hard on his neck, back, and joints during high school, college, and beyond.
“I thought I was going to be a champion and found out it wasn’t that easy,” he says. “I didn’t know it was going to hit me like this, but wow.”
Neck surgery a few years ago at another hospital didn’t go as well as Larry would have liked, so he was leery about having work done on his right knee.
But surgery became a necessity after a dangerous case of foot drop, where weakness and nerve damage made it difficult for Larry to lift the front of his foot.
“My knee was bone to bone, and then all of a sudden I got a foot drop,” he says. “Every step I took I would have to worry about falling.”
An X-ray shows Larry’s artificial knee, implanted with help from a robotic assistant.
ROBOTIC PRECISION
The constant pain led Larry to Tyler Freeman, MD, orthopedic surgeon on the medical staff at Methodist Charlton.
“Mr. Revels had severe arthritis and bone spurs throughout his knee,” Dr. Freeman says. “He couldn’t straighten his leg out or bend his knee fully, so it was really affecting his quality of life.”
That made Larry a prime candidate for robotic-assisted surgery using ROSA, a robotic surgical assistant that greatly enhances an orthopedic surgeon’s precision by creating a 3D map based on each patient’s unique anatomy.
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“I can put the implants exactly where they need to be ahead of time and cut less soft tissue,” Dr. Freeman says. “That makes for a more precise, more tailored knee implant, which also makes recovery less painful for the patient.”
After his neck surgery, Larry was skeptical, but Dr. Freeman quickly set his mind at ease.
“It made me feel very confident that he was going to do a great job,” Larry says. “Dr. Freeman walked me through everything, and it went exactly like he said it would.”
Once a “big man on the boards,” Larry now gets most of his exercise on his stationary bike.
FEELING GOOD AGAIN
In September 2025, Larry had surgery at Methodist Charlton and was discharged later that day.
“I went home and was up on my feet the same day,” he says. “Now I’m riding my stationary bike as long as I want. That’s just how good it was.”
His years as a gym rat prepared Larry to commit to his rehabilitation, and he’s proud of the results.
Larry put in work rehabbing his new knee, and now he’s reaping the rewards.
“I worked hard,” he says. “I did exactly what Dr. Freeman told me to do, and I was feeling good again in no time.”
Now he spreads the word to anyone he sees walking with a limp or grimacing when they stand: Don’t wait to find a solution to joint pain.
“All that pain you’re going through,” Larry says he tells them, “it’s going to be over with.”
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