Getting Back to Life

Severe pain wasn’t just keeping Alfonso Guerrero from being comfortable, it was making him lonely. “My family had parties and I didn’t go. I was embarrassed for them to see I could barely walk,” said the Bakersfield resident. “I just stayed home, depressed and in pain.” Then he realized the problem might not be his spine, after all. “My sister said, ‘Alfonso, it’s your hips that are the problem,’” he recalls, adding that she works in an orthopedic clinic. “I didn’t believe her at first, but she went with me to visit my doctor and we got X-rays — and she was right.” Based on imaging, Guerrero’s doctor suspected that his hips were damaged to the point of needing to be replaced. Guerrero got a referral to Timothy Galan, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgical techniques for joint replacement. “It was just such a relief to finally have an answer,” Guerrero said.  

Answers and advice 

At Guerrero’s first consultation, Dr. Galan confirmed that he would benefit from replacing both hips. But the doctor had one condition: Guerrero needed to get his health under control. “He had uncontrolled high blood pressure, and he was a smoker,” Dr. Galan said. “That can put stress on the heart and raise the risk of complications during the surgery, so I advised him to quit smoking and bring his blood pressure down before the operations.” 

“I was willing to do whatever it took to get better,” Guerrero said. “I’m just glad he was taking my health so seriously, and he made sure I took full responsibility, too.”

Robot-assisted surgery

Dr. Galan used the Mako SmartRobotics system to perform the procedures, giving him greater control and precision — and making recovery easier for Guerrero. “As a surgeon, I work in tandem with the robotic arm to complete a procedure,” said Dr. Galan, who treats people in Bakersfield, Delano and Tehachapi. “The arm mimics my movements in small, hard-to-reach places, meaning the patient typically has less pain after surgery and recovers quickly.” Guerrero said he was surprised at how quickly the pain went away after his first operation — especially with help from his physical therapists. “After a few days, I had no pain at all,” he said. “The therapists showed me movements to protect my hips, and they helped me get my strength back.” 

Living well again

After years of avoiding family parties and staying home, Guerrero is out and about again. “Now I can go anywhere and do anything I want,” he said. “I visit family members, I go to their parties, I even dance,” he added with a laugh. Looking back, he is grateful that his sister pushed him to seek answers for his pain. “When you’re hurting like that, you feel like your life is over,” he said. “I owe a lot to my sister and Dr. Galan. I’m grateful that he gave me my life back.”