“I woke up the first day of August, and I’ll never forget it — I couldn’t walk,” said Stephanie Simpson of Bridgeville. It was 2020, and she couldn’t get out of bed. A labral tear in the cartilage surrounding her hip had rendered the retired 25-year military attorney and runner immobile.

Simpson went to an orthopedist, who told her what had happened after performing some scans. “He could only do a posterior hip replacement, but I wanted an anteriorone,” Simpson said. “I immediately thought of Dr. Doran.”

William Doran, DO, FAAOS of TidalHealth Orthopedics had helped her husband get back on his feet after significant fractures to his leg following a timber accident. “I knew he would be able to help,” she said.

Dr. Doran has performed more robotic joint replacement procedures than any robotic surgeon in the region, and he’s the only surgeon in Delaware who performs robotic anterior hip surgery.

Some patients prefer anterior hip replacements because it avoids cutting major muscles and can result in less pain and faster recovery after surgery. However, not everyone is an ideal candidate, and it is technically demanding and requires a very skilled, experienced surgeon. Dr. Doran was able to perform the anterior hip replacement for Simpson, who only spent one night in the hospital and was on a quick road to recovery — until she had a stroke of bad luck.

“About two weeks after my surgery, I fell off my walker and onto a tile floor,” she said. An ambulance raced her to the emergency department, where they found she had not only dislocated her hip replacement, but also fractured her femur.

Fortunately, Dr. Doran was able to perform another surgery to fix Simpson that night — but the next morning, when she couldn’t get out of bed to perform her physical therapy, she realized she had also torn the cartilage around her knee in the fall. “I had so much pain from the other injuries, it masked that one,” she said.

Once again, Dr. Doran was there for Simpson, repairing the damage with another surgery that same day. Later, she had total knee replacement surgery as well.

After plenty of physical therapy and patience, Simpson is back to being an active and young retiree; at 63, she keeps herself moving with recumbent biking, swimming and weightlifting.

For those considering joint replacement surgery, Simpson says: “Be prepared — be as strong as you can beforehand and do as much as you can, without pain, to stay in shape. It will help you recover much faster.”

And of course, having a trusted and skilled surgeon helps, too.