Patient Returns to Active Lifestyle After Hip Surgery

It was a small bump on his hip that prompted Bill Monahan to get an MRI to ensure that melanoma hadn’t returned. What came as a surprise was there was nothing wrong with his skin, but his hip bones were a different story. The MRI images showed his right hip was rapidly deteriorating.

Hearing that difficult news, Bill scheduled an appointment with Dr. Stanford Israelsen, an orthopedic surgeon at Wyoming Orthopedics and Spine (WYOS), a Campbell County Medical Group clinic, who specializes in hip and knee surgeries. After discussing various options, Bill and Dr. Israelsen decided to go with a hip replacement surgery.

“From January to March my hip went down the tube,” Bill said. “Running is part of my lifestyle. By the time I had surgery that lifestyle was gone. It was too painful.”

For Bill, choosing to have the surgery in Gillette was an easy one. He felt confident in the local doctors and living just a short drive from Campbell County Memorial Hospital made it super convenient.

“I have a lot of faith in Dr. Israelsen,” Bill said. “He’s very calm and reassuring.”

Despite having major surgery, Bill was in the hospital for only 24 hours. Even though he had some post-operative pain after surgery, the care and compassion offered during his time at the hospital helped him stay positive.

“I had zero complaints about the hospital,” Bill said. “They treated me with kindness and I have the utmost respect for those who helped me through that.”

Being able to help people improve their lives and feel better is what Dr. Israelsen enjoys most about his job. Helping individuals like Bill return to their active, everyday lifestyle is why he gets up and goes to work every day.

“I have a lot of patients who can’t walk, or can barely walk, and I enjoy seeing them walk out the door without pain,” Dr. Israelsen said. “I love having patients come back and tell me they’re better.”

Dr. Israelsen also lends his skills to complex orthopedic cases that involve severe injuries from car accidents, falls and other catastrophic events. These emergency cases can be life threatening without proper treatment. Dr. Israelsen not only plays a role in saving lives, but also maintaining their quality of life.

“A broken hip can be a life-ending injury if you can’t fix it,” Dr. Israelsen said. “But typically, it’s something you can easily fix and get them back on their feet. That changes the outcomes for patients.”

For Bill, if he hadn’t had his hip replaced his active lifestyle would have come to an end. “I’m back to my lifestyle,” Bill said. “I’m happy with the way things are going. I can do all the things I was able to do before.”

For a consultation, call 307.686.1413 or visit www.wyomingorthospine.com.

Article written by Kim Phagan-Hansel, Wyoming freelance writer