From Palm Springs to San Diego for The Sharp Experience

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After receiving an osteoarthritis diagnosis, Andrew needed knee replacement surgery to get back to the active lifestyle he had always enjoyed.

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Andrew chose to travel from his home in Palm Springs to Sharp Grossmont Hospital after hearing about their excellent orthopedic team.

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Andrew’s husband, Skip, supported him through surgery prep, surgery and recovery.

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Back home in Palm Springs, Andrew is grateful for the care he received at Sharp, and the opportunity to get back into his active lifestyle.

When Andrew Ceperley decided it was time for knee replacement surgery, he didn’t choose the hospital down the street. Instead, he made the nearly three-hour drive from Palm Springs to San Diego in search of care that felt more personal.

“I didn’t want to feel like just another number,” says Andrew, a 63-year-old consultant and former university administrator. “I wanted to be treated like a person, and everything I’d heard about Sharp told me that’s what I’d get.”

Andrew has always valued staying active — not through intense workouts but through walking. “I can walk and walk and walk,” he says. “My dad walked with a brisk pace, and I followed suit.”

For years, he logged upwards of 10,000 steps daily, biked regularly and enjoyed hiking the mountain trails near his desert home. But the pain in his knee gradually became too much.

“A couple of years ago, I came back from a hike with friends on Mount San Jacinto and said to myself, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’” Andrew recalls.

Health care that feels like home

Although he and his husband now live in the Coachella Valley, Andrew spent over a decade living and working in San Diego. Familiar with the area and its health care providers, he decided to return after facing the challenges of what felt like an overwhelmed local health system.

“I felt like I was getting my three minutes in the exam room and then on to the next,” he says. “I needed to feel like more than just my insurance card.”

In 2023, Andrew was diagnosed at his local hospital with osteoarthritis, a common cause of joint deterioration. He tried everything to avoid surgery, including physical therapy, medications and injection therapy. Eventually, he connected with the orthopedic team at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, where he says he immediately noticed a shift in the level of care.

“There’s an efficiency, a responsiveness and just a pleasantness,” he says. “Every touch point, from the webinars to the phone calls to the time with the staff, made me feel like a person.”

On the road back to the desert — and to recovery

Andrew underwent knee replacement surgery in April 2025 with Dr. Steven Allsing, an orthopedic surgeon with Sharp Community Medical Group and affiliated with Sharp Grossmont Hospital. To avoid the long drive home immediately after surgery, he and his husband stayed overnight at a nearby hotel. Just a few weeks later, he was already starting to feel like himself again.

“I knew that knee replacement is not an overnight fix, and that I needed to dedicate time each day to walking, physical therapy, resting and managing discomfort with meds,” Andrew says. “But I can feel physical improvements each day. Things like moving around without a cane, climbing and descending stairs, getting in and out of the car — these get more manageable with each week.”

Total knee replacement, also known as knee arthroplasty, is one of the most common and effective procedures for people with advanced joint damage. While recovery times vary, most patients are up and walking with assistance on the same day as surgery and gradually build strength and mobility through physical therapy.

Within six weeks, most patients can return to many of their usual activities and low-impact exercises like cycling and swimming. Full recovery can take up to a year, but many report significant improvements in pain, mobility and overall quality of life much earlier.

“Before surgery, I had this awareness that I couldn't do what I did three or five years ago, and that was hard,” Andrew says. “I didn’t want to be the person who says, ‘It’s just three blocks to dinner, but I’ll drive.’ I didn’t want that to be my reality.”

Giving yourself grace and time to heal

Now, just six weeks after surgery, Andrew is back to doing many things he loves. He even has set his sights on hiking the Camino de Santiago next summer.

For others considering surgery, he offers this advice: “I’m glad I did this. Recovery takes patience, self-work and grace. You have to show up for yourself every day — but also give yourself room to heal.”

While he says he didn’t miss San Diego’s traffic, he’s grateful for the care — and the new knee — that brought him back.

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