Back to Life Without Pain

The neighbors call him the unofficial mayor of Kensington Road in Rossmoor. Rob Yellam, 65, a semi-retired tech executive, can fix anything and is generous with his expertise, tools, and spirit. If a car hood goes up on a Saturday morning, you can count on him being there. The sound of a skill saw brings him running across the street, eager to help. If he’s not helping some neighbor, he’s working in his own driveway, tearing apart his dirt bikes, off road vehicles, servicing their cars, or jet skis.

A year ago, Rob began to slow down, somewhat, due to some pain in his right hip. At first it was a twinge in the front of his hip. Over the course of time, the pain increased and hobbled him to the point of always limping with a grimace of pain. When the pain affected his sleep, he sought help from several local doctors.

Unimpressed with the doctors’ diagnosis, he asked a neighbor for assistance, a neighbor who listens to a sports medicine radio show called Doctor in the Dugout on KLAA AM in his garage every Saturday. He referred Rob to Hoag Orthopedic Institute’s James Caillouette, MD, who specializes in hip and knee replacement.

“From my first meeting with Dr. Caillouette it was a game changer for me,” said Rob. “He looked at the images of my hip and asked me about my pain, moved my hip around and said ‘I can’t believe you are not in more pain and can walk at all!.’ Years of accumulated trauma from my outdoor sports activities had taken their toll on my hip and almost all my cartilage was gone.”

On his doctor’s recommendation, Rob went to physical therapy for a few months to see if it would provide any relief, and tried a cortisone shot. Rob’s wife Liz said Rob’s pain didn’t slow him down. He completed a major plumbing project that required him to dig down six feet in his front lawn.

“At that point I knew I was going to get help, but I had projects to finish,” Rob said.

So, after Memorial Day, Rob underwent a complete hip replacement surgery at Hoag Orthopedic Institute on an outpatient basis with Dr. Caillouette.

“I went in early in the morning and was home resting that afternoon,” Rob said. “PT came to my house, and I was already walking in the afternoon of my surgery.”

Rob was soon walking up and down the block as part of his recommended rehab, and in four weeks was walking without a limp and not using a cane.

“Getting out of daily pain and gaining my mobility put me back to doing the things I loved to do every day,” he said. “But the best part was being able to sleep without any pain or discomfort. That was a real difference maker.”

For Rob, his wife, and all his neighbors, it’s made all the difference.