“Do you think you could write me a note for my instructor, letting them know why I wasn’t in class this week?” This is not the typical question our surgeons hear when visiting their patients on the floor. Dr. Russ Cohen smiled at patient Luis Duran Diaz and said he would gladly write the letter.
Luis is a twenty-year-old student studying engineering. He loves sports and often played soccer as a child and young adult. But science and math were his true loves and he decided he wanted to go to University and study to become an engineer.
His plans were interrupted before he had even left high school. In 2019, they feared that Luis had a tumor in his right hip, but instead, they found avascular necrosis. This is a condition that occurs when bone tissue in the hip dies due to a lack of blood supply. This can lead to the collapse of the hip joint and bone, which can cause pain and reduced mobility.
Despite his diagnosis, Luis continued on to the University. The pain in his hip continued to increase each year. He would tire easily while in class and his hip would ache uncontrollably when the weather was cold. He knew that he couldn’t keep living this way but didn’t know how to change his situation.
He heard about Operation Walk, and his mother and older brother traveled with him for two hours to attend patient screening. He was selected for a hip replacement and received his surgery the next day from Dr. Russel Cohen and this OR team. Luis worked hard after he arrived on the floor, completing all requests from our physical therapy team and was released a day after his surgery.
Luis can’t wait to see what the future holds for him. “Thank you for helping me to live a normal life without pain. Keep helping others like me and the people of Cuba. Your team makes dreams come true.”
Luis walking two weeks after surgery