Davinci Surgery 08/18/2009

I had my Davinci surgery on August 18th at Florida Hospital, Celebration Health. The surgeon, Dr Patel the director of the Global Robotics Institute, his staff and the hospital were great. I highly recommend them if you are considering the davinci surgery rout.

The experience thus far has been almost exactly as it was explained to me by the staff, the seminars and reading material on the Global robotics website. The day of the surgery I was met by Dr Patel’s concierge at the hospital, she escorted my wife and I to the prep room and explained all that was going to happen that morning and during the day. The surgery nurse came and met me, the anesthesiologist met me and then before I knew it I was off in la la land. I was out for approximately 5 hours; Dr Patel called my wife to let her know how the surgery went. The nursed contacted her and gave her an update and she was there when I woke up.

I spent a day at the hospital, got up and walked the same day and ate small amounts of Jello and soft stuff. I agree with all of you that have said the biggest irritation was the catheter but it is followed closely by the constipation / bloated feeling for the first few days. The first week is just no fun, no way to get around that.

I got the catheter out on Monday August 24th..yea and while the first day was leaky, the days and nights since have been better and better. I have been relatively dry at night with most of my issues coming when I cough, laugh or sneeze and some when I walk around. Still, there has been improvement almost every day.

My pathology report came back the cancer being a Gleason 3+4 =7, with a small amount of cancer (pin head size) emerged from my prostate capsule; no signs in the margins or in the lymph nodes. It was in 20% of the prostate upper left area and they had to take the nerves in that area to insure a good sampling of tissue in the margins. They spared the nerves on the right side.

So, not a perfect report, but an encouraging report. The physician’s assistant repeatedly said to me that it was good that I took the action I did when I did as a delay would have definitely increased my risk. I am hopeful being that my PSA was 5.0 when I started this process in May and one of 12 samples were positive. Reading some of the post today I can see that the report I received does not give me any guarantee, but like I have been told, definitely reduces the risk.

My wife and I went to a seminar the day of my pathology / catheter follow-up on erectile dysfunction and urinary continence and it was encouraging to hear there was hope for the future. I have a concern regarding the nerves taken out but listening to the speakers and the discussion refocused me on the solutions, not the problem. It’s going to take time….

Speaking of hope, the hospital just help reinforce it with their huge pictures and murals of Jesus’ involvement in healing and the guiding of the doctors hands. I have a strong faith, and it brought me allot of comfort knowing I was in a hospital that was not afraid to express its’ beliefs but then again reached out across denominations and faiths in expressing God’s love. It was truly a unique experience.

I pray for all of you that are walking through this experience, no matter what part of the process you are in.

Thank you all for the post and information. It is so helpful.