First patients praise robotic system
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"My operation was Tuesday and I went home Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon I went to Mass. I was feeling good and had things to be thankful for."
~ Patient Kenneth Ring
Kenneth Ring had robotic kidney surgery on a Tuesday and by Saturday afternoon he was able to go to church.
Mr. Ring was the first patient to undergo surgery with the da Vinci surgical robot, powered by Casey McCullough, DO, a boardcertified urologist on the Backus Medical Staff who is specially trained in robotic surgery.
"My operation was Tuesday and I went home Saturday morning," Mr. Ring said. "Saturday afternoon I went to Mass, I was feeling good and had things to be thankful for."
In October, he had surgery to remove a kidney and its ureter - a tube that carries urine from the kidney to the bladder. This procedure was to treat upper tract transitional cell cancer. He had a small tumor where the ureter and the kidney connect, so he had his left kidney and ureter removed.
"It is only a four--inch scar, there were four tiny holes where the device goes in," he said. "It is just miraculous."
Mr. Ring attended the Backus Operating Room Open House in November to get a closer look at the robotic device that assisted in his surgery.
"It was the first time I really got to see the machine, and it was absolutely fantastic," he said. "We are right up to snuff here in Norwich."
About two weeks after his operation, he said he was feeling well.
"I had very little discomfort, I was up and walking the next day at the hospital," he said.
"I was flabbergasted I could do what I could do. I can't get over the rapidity of my recovery."
Mr. Ring will celebrate his 82nd birthday in January. He was originally scheduled for surgery in September, but Franklin Freidman, MD, a urologist on the Backus Medical Staff, asked him if wanted to postpone the surgery until this less invasive device was available.
Robert Burdick, 53, had his prostate removed in early December because of prostate cancer. He had gone in for a general check-up, where it was discovered he had elevated PSA levels, so he was scheduled for a biopsy. After being diagnosed in August, he was scheduled for the procedure.
"Thankfully they caught it early, but the timing worked that this procedure was available," Mr. Burdick said.
He said the doctors explained to him that by having the procedure with the da Vinci robotic surgical system there would be smaller incisions and a faster recovery period. The procedure was performed on a Tuesday morning and Mr. Burdick went home on Friday.
He said he would recommend others who qualify for this type of operation to take advantage of the new technology.
"It was neat to be one of the first at Backus to have this type of operation," he said.
Having this type of technology at a local community hospital is good for patients, he added.