Robotic Surgery

I am scheduled for my hysterectomy on November 4th. My doctor recommended Robotic Surgery. I would like to hear from other women that have had the robot used on them.

I had the robotic surgery and am very pleased with the results. For one thing, I spent one night in the hospital. I was up and walking around just a few hours after surgery. I had little pain after surgery and the Toradol shots they gave me in the hospital worked well. Although the vicodin I was given for pain at home made me constipated, I found I was able to stop taking it three days after surgery and manage my pain with ibuprofin.

The discomfort from the gas and constipation was worse than the pain from the surgery. I drank lots of water and walked around the house a lot to relieve it, as well as taking stool softeners with laxative and eating prunes.

Two weeks after surgery, I was released without any restrictions. I went back to work the next day, although I should have taken another week off as I have a very stressful job and no one does my work when I am off.

I have had no side effects. The only "complication" was granulation, which my doctor said was part of the normal healing process, and he treated it in his office with a one time application of silver nitrate.

Instead of a big incision, I have five small "polka dots" about the size of a dime each. The doctor says the scarring will take about a year to fade. I had my appendix out laproscopically two years ago, and those scars are very faint.

Having watched my mom recuperate from an abdominal hysterectomy and seeing her battle with an infected incision, I am even more grateful that I was able to have my surgery with a robot. My doctor jokes that a robot is better than having a resident doctor assisting him because the robot doesn't move and it doesn't talk back!

I would encourage you to talk to your anestheologist if you have worries or concerns about your body's reaction to surgery. Some hystersisters have expressed concern because your body is tilted during surgery, or they become naseauos before surgery or very anxious. My anesthesologist spent a lot of time with me just before surgery and asked me a lot of questions. I have a little arthritis in my back and he assured me he would take special care - sure enough, no back problems after surgery.

You may be asked to give your consent to an abdominal hysterectomy, if it turns out that becomes necessary once surgery begins. Also, the doctor told me that while they were doing my surgery, they would remove my gall bladder if it looked bad (I am 57). I asked my doctor how many of the robotic surgeries he had performed, how long he had been doing them, if any had a bad outcome and how many ended up being abdominal surgeries. You may want to ask your doctor the same questions.

As you can see, I am a big fan of this surgery. There is a link on this site to a site that explains more about robotic surgery.

Thanks for the information. I feel better actualy talking to someone who had the DaVinci used on them with good results.

Definitely inquire as to your doctor's experience with the DaVinci. You want them to have at least done 50 cases with it...this is definitely one of those situations where "practice makes perfect." Very important! Also, not everyone's situation is amenable to this sort of approach; it really depends on what sort of problem you are having the surgery for.

Best of luck!