Hip Replacement Has Carmine Woman Singing Again

The Sugartree Folk Bluegrass Band is making music again now that its guitarist has fully recovered from hip replacement surgery in May 2026 at St. Luke's Health - Lakeside Hospital.

Excruciating hip pain forced 74-year-old Cathy Sterman to stop performing with the trio, which has played together for 10 years in the Carmine, Texas, area.

“We would go and play, and I was just praying that I could stand up for another hour,” she recalled.

Cathy took a bad fall 12 years ago and developed arthritis, which progressively worsened. She kept walking with pain until it significantly impacted her daily life.

"I hit the breaking point," she recalled. “I started excluding myself from walking, excluding myself from getting involved in stuff that I love to do. I love to play music with my friends, but I couldn’t stand up that long anymore,” she said.

As much as Cathy dreaded the thought of undergoing surgery, she called her son, Shawn, for help. “She was in constant pain, not sleeping well and always on edge. We saw a change in her demeanor,” he said.

Shawn took his mother to see Mark Gendi, DO, an Orthopedic Surgeon at St. Luke’s Health - Lakeside Hospital. Cathy described herself as “rather hard-headed” about the idea of a hip replacement until Dr. Gendi showed her an X-ray comparison of a healthy hip next to her own.  

“Oh my goodness, to see all the deterioration of my left hip. It was incredible. I really needed to see how urgent things were,” Cathy said.  “Dr. Gendi knew that time was of the essence, but he didn't pressure me. I trusted him.”

Dr. Gendi said Cathy’s arthritic left hip deteriorated significantly. “That she was walking with a femoral head that was essentially disintegrating into pieces is remarkable in and of itself,” Dr. Gendi said.

Precision Hip Replacement Provides Relief

Dr. Gendi used Orthogrid technology to implant Cathy’s new hip in precisely the right location. “It's essentially an AI-computer hooked up to the X-ray that tells me exact degrees implants are being placed and millimeters to match leg lengths. This leads to a decrease in overall complications and revision rates due to appropriate implant positioning. We are also able to match patients’ leg lengths down to a few millimeters so they don't experience a discrepancy,” he said.

Cathy spent one night in the hospital and followed Dr. Gendi's orders to ice her hip and walk carefully for the first two weeks. After that, she saw dramatic improvement. Cathy started walking more, always taking care not to overdo it. 

“It's been just over two months, and I'm walking again, standing up, playing my guitar again and playing music with my friends. I'm getting back to all the stuff that I love to do,” she shared.

“It's just night and day now,” Shawn said. “She's coming at things with a renewed interest and just living life to the fullest. It's great to see.”

Making Music Again

Cathy reunited with her Sugartree bandmates in July for their first rehearsal in seven months.

“I had a blast, and the first song we played was ‘Stand by Me.’ We all started tearing up. It was great, and I played that guitar for doggone 3 or 4 hours!” Cathy said with pride. Sugartree played their first gig back with Cathy on July 19, 2026. 

Advice for Others

Cathy now realizes she made a mistake by trying to walk through her hip pain. She offers two pieces of advice: 

“Number one, do not ignore it because eventually you will need help, and secondly, get a good doctor that you trust. Look up Dr. Gendi.”

Learn more about our orthopedic services or find a doctor near you.