By: Dr. Rene Luna, Robotic Director, DHR Health Women’s Hospital Institute for Robotic Surgery
Needing surgery can leave you feeling scared and anxious. It can cause you to start thinking about the pain, process, and recovery time afterwards, leaving you worried about how much time you will be away from work.
Thankfully, there is a great option. As a gynecological surgeon, I use the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System at DHR Health Women’s Hospital to operate on women’s surgical needs. This allows for more precision and millimeter size incisions, translating into rapid recovery with minimal to no pain.
A typical robotic hysterectomy is minimally invasive and takes less than an hour to perform. Immediately following surgery, you are taken to recover for 2-3 hours. Once you are cleared, you can go home the same day of surgery. You can sleep in your own comfy bed and eat the food you want. No limitations.
You will experience some mild pain and soreness at the incision sites that are approximately 8 millimeters in size. A great comparison is a dime, which is 17 millimeters in width, making your incisions half the size of a dime, incredible!
For the next 3-4 days you’ll continue to feel that mild pain and soreness as you move around. There will be some guidelines, such as, no heavy lifting more than 10-15lbs, no vigorous exercise, and no sexual activity.
After 2 weeks most patients are driving and engaging in the day-to-day activities needed for daily life. You can go to church, go out to eat, and visit with family. By this time you can also begin to discuss returning to work as you recover with your surgeon.
The Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System has many advantages and performs major surgery, such as a hysterectomy, with the utmost precision and incredible results. This cutting-edge technology allows expert surgeons to perform complex procedures with greater flexibility, precision and control, reducing your fear of a long drawn-out recovery time.
If you would like more information or would like to see if you are a great candidate for robotic surgery, please call DHR Health Women’s Hospital Institute for Robotic Surgery at 956-362-2229.
