Revised June 3, 2026

For Richard, a police officer who had served for 40 years, he was not able to walk a straight line because of the pain he experienced from his physically demanding job.  

“My job demanded a lot of my legs, shoulders, and hips,” said Richard. “After several years, the pain was so severe I couldn’t sleep. I thought it was my back.”

Since he had a successful bilateral knee replacement surgery and extensive rehab in 2013 at Memorial, Richard sought out Daniel Chan, MD, chief of Orthopedic Services at Memorial Healthcare System, who diagnosed the problem as being in his hip.

"Richard received a minimally invasive anterior approach hip replacement, which means going in from the front of the hip so we don't cut any muscles," explains Dr. Chan. "It's an outpatient procedure where we use live X-rays and computer navigation to ensure the implants are placed precisely to facilitate a rapid recovery."

After an intense rehabilitation, Richard felt so good, he took up playing pickleball. Unfortunately, he started to experience extreme pain in his shoulder and was referred to Alex Fokin, MD, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in shoulder surgery.

"We diagnosed him with advanced shoulder osteoarthritis, which is a loss of cartilage in the shoulder joint," says Dr. Fokin. "After exhausting all the non-operative treatment options, we performed an anatomic total shoulder replacement in an outpatient setting."

At 70 years old and pain free, Richard’s back to his active lifestyle and playing pickleball.

“I've never had an operation where I got off the table and I never had pain from day one. I'm right on target for where I want to be,” he said.