MY RELATIONSHIP TO DA VINCI SURGERY: Patient

MY CONDITION: Endometrial (Uterine) Cancer

TYPE OF PROCEDURE I HAD: da Vinci Hysterectomy

DATE OF PROCEDURE: May 5, 2006

MY SURGEON: Dr. John F Boggess

HOSPITAL WHERE MY PROCEDURE WAS PERFORMED: University of North Carolina

OTHER TREATMENTS I CONSIDERED BEFORE DA VINCI SURGERY:
Laparoscopy

THE BIGGEST CONCERNS I HAD ABOUT TREATMENT:
Length of recovery; amount of blood loss

WHY I CHOSE DA VINCI SURGERY:
Investigation/research

HOW LONG I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL:
17 hours

MY PAIN AND/OR DISCOMFORT LEVEL:
Discomfort only, no pain

ABOUT MY RECOVERY TIME:
2 days

WHEN I RETURNED TO NORMAL ACTIVITIES:
2 days

ABOUT MY SURGEON AND/OR FACILITY STAFF:
Phenomenal, perfect

HOW DA VINCI SURGERY COMPARED TO MY PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES OR PRECONCEPTIONS OF SURGERY:
It's like not having surgery

I WOULD RECOMMEND DA VINCI SURGERY TO MY FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS!

Close to three years ago now, I made a well-thought out decision to seek out and find a physician who performed gynecologic robotic hysterectomy for endometrial cancer. I thought long and very hard about wanting the fastest, smoothest recovery from the actual surgery that I could accomplish, since I was fairly sure that after staging I would be undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which turned out to be the case. I wanted my body in "fighting" condition for the rigors of postoperative treatment.
This turned out to be one of the best decisions of my lifetime, since I had the advantages of robotic surgery and the great gift of meeting John Boggess, M.D., Oncologist at UNC-Chapel Hill.
I walked four hours after hysterectomy which removed uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix, and what turned out to be over 100 lymph nodes for pathologic study. I went home after 17 hours in the hospital and resumed a normal lifestyle that included walking several miles at the end of the week of surgery.
Technologic advances that limit healing time, blood loss, and what I consider to be a more 'sterile' approach to surgery gave me a tremendous advantage post surgery. Conventional hysterectomies with the old standard long incisions (10-12 inches) can take up to 4-6 weeks to heal and leave women incapacitated. I had seen this over time with my friends who underwent that type of hysterectomy. Laparoscopic surgery narrowed that down a great deal, but robotic has the most benefits of all, health wise, and also leaves you with only 3 little 'porthole' type scars that are almost not visible now.
UNC then continued on with the best medical care through chemotherapy and radiation that I can imagine. There are so many things we can do to give us advantages in fighting battles like this one. Use them all, and fight hard.
Please visit the Womens Cancer Network at
http://www.wcn.org/wall_of_hope/index.html