May 9, 2009
Da Vinci Surgical Robot
I love my Doctor; she is right on the cutting edge of technology — literally. And that will possibly make my surgical recovery easier.
OK … what is Portland Firefly talking about today?! I am about to introduce you to the world of the future! The Future is here; and I am about to become the benefactor of space technology!
I know what you are thinking — Poor Portland Firefly — she really does have Chemo-brain and we really need to pray for her. Yes, please keep those prayers coming, but for my miraculous healing through God working with modern medicine. Is it starting to make more sense now? Keep reading and it will (I hope!).
I have mentioned that I will be having surgery in mid- May. Several weeks ago, my doctor requested pre-authorization from my insurance company to use the DaVinci Robot for the surgery, which was granted. I didn’t think much of it until this morning when Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America did a short piece on …. ta dah… you guessed it…. THE DAVINCI ROBOT! I was blown away by what I saw on TV and called the hospital for more information. They referred me to this website : www.davincisurgery.com.
I usually allow my readers to choose whether they want to click on a link or not, but not today! Today I am asking you to click on this link and read about this wonderful technology. There is a small window on the right side about midway down the DaVinci page that has a video. Click on it! You will be as awestruck as I have been, I am sure. This is just so totally amazing! http://www.davincisurgery.com/surgery/index.aspx
This is the robot that was developed for space repair — talk about high tech! Instead of cutting me from stem to stern (well, pubic bone to breast bone) this robot enables the Doctor to make about 5 or 6 tiny incisions in my abdomen and do the surgery without cutting through all of my abdominal muscles.
There are several benefits to this robotic surgery. Because DaVinci uses magnifiying lenses, the Doctors can see much better and in much greater detail. This means that they can see cancer tumors that are much smaller (and then remove them) than they would be able to see without the magnifying lens of the robot. The robotic arms eliminate any physician tremors – no matter how slight – which make for ” a steadier hand” (always a good thing for any surgeon). And because there are several tiny incisions instead of one large one, the recovery period for the patient (which is me in this case) is much easier and quicker. Sounds great to me!! Sign me up! Oh, I’m already signed up! Lucky me!
