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Plenty jet lagged after nearly 9,000 miles of air travel, Dawit Berhanu wasn’t the least bit nervous for a life-changing surgery.

The 15-year-old flew from Ethiopia to the Santa Clara Valley earlier this month for a procedure to correct the curvature of his spine from scoliosis. The surgery was done at no cost thanks to a local doctor and assistance from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a Cupertino family and Good Samaritan Hospital.

The roughly eight-hour surgery took place March 5, only days after Dawit arrived in the United States and met his host family and surgeon, Campbell resident Jeffrey Kanel, who

Robert Vizas never had a lot of pain in his left foot, but as he notes, pain and discomfort are different things.  “It just got to the point where I was having trouble getting around,” he says.

“I broke my foot twice in college, but never had any real problems, so I never had anything done.”  Eventually, though, he developed a bunion and hammer toe.  “It got to the point where I had to cut the toes out of my shoes.  I’m a lawyer, and that just doesn’t look professional.  Then I began having trouble getting around.  My

Stan loved to travel and visit family and friends.  But for almost a year and a half instead of going places and seeing people, Stan was nearly bedridden.  Pain in his lower back radiated down his left leg, and eventually every step hurt.  It hurt to walk, stand, and sit.  “If I went to the store for a loaf of bread, I still got a shopping cart so I could lean on it for support,” Stan says.

His first physician, a neurologist, read the MRI and didn’t think surgery was necessary, and Stan was referred to another doctor

I was experiencing severe knee pain and initially went to my primary doctor who referred me to Golden State Orthopedic. I met with a knee specialist who did a X-Ray and MRI. They found nothing wrong with my knee. I was given a cortisone shot with no relief.

I was then referred to one of the pain doctors- after several procedures- no relief. I was in so much pain, I had another MRI on my back. It was determined that I had spinal stenosis of the lower lumbar 2-3. Dr. Hasan performed endoscopic laminectomy. I walked out of the hospital pain free.

I’m so grateful I found Dr. Wong

In July of 2021, I found out from an orthopedic surgeon that I needed two total hip replacements. I was 58 at the time and in shock when he told me. He also said I should get injections right away and then I could decide in the future when or if I wanted to have surgery. I did schedule the injections without really understanding why I was doing it. I went home and started researching hip replacements. Within days I realized there was no reason for me to have injections, so

Todd Miller was no stranger to surgery.  Being an athlete, having served in the military and starting his own construction business meant he was also no stranger to injury, and the wear and tear damage that comes with an active life.  But then one day, walking along the creek with his wife, he experienced an excruciating pain in his right knee that eventually required surgery.  His knee was repaired, but he walked with a cane for years after because it wasn’t done quite right.

“I’m a social guy,” says Todd.  “I bring the humor, so even if I

When Neil Mendel began experiencing pain, he thought he had a broken foot. A trip to urgent care showed that wasn’t the case, and started several months’ worth of testing, speculation and process of elimination to find the problem.

Finally, electrodiagnostic medicine determined that Neil had a pinched sciatic nerve in his lower back.  “They put electrodes on my head and feet and watched the pathways between them!”

He had seen Dr. Coe for his back years before, with excellent results, so Neil returned to Dr. Coe armed with a diagnosis to discuss his next steps.  Dr.

“My goal was to get better.  I’m 88, so I thought I’d better get this thing repaired so I can get on with it,” Janice Lucky says of the wound on her right leg.  “It was so sore it was hard to do a lot of walking, and I’m a pretty active person.  I try to stay as upbeat as possible.”  But it can be difficult to remain upbeat when pain is limiting your activity, so Janice sought medical treatment with Dr Ross Talarico at GSOS.

“Dr Talarico was very attentive with his service.  And very direct!  He

“I wish I had done this sooner,” Helen Stakem says of her knee replacement surgeries.  “It was all a lot easier than I had imagined.”

Helen didn’t have to stretch her imagination very far, as she had been a patient of Dr Abidi’s in 2015 and again in 2016 when he gave her 2 new hips.

But gradually, knee pain was robbing Helen of her quality of life.  “I was no longer able to continue teaching Bellydance, or practicing Tai Chi Chuan, or going for walks or socializing last summer due to