ISLAMABAD, Sept. 27 (ONLINE): On her flight to Atlanta, Robin Pollack nibbled gummy bears and sipped a cranberry juice cocktail. It had been a week since she’d gotten robotic surgery to remove a cancerous stomach tumor at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and she was heading home \u2013 feeling surprisingly good.<\/p>\n
The surgery required five small cuts. \u201cI now have four little dots and a 2-inch slit that he superglued shut,\u201d Pollack said. \u201cAfter surgery, I woke up hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was out of bed and walking in a day, and out and about town with her husband within a week, enjoying cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e and eggs Florentine.
\n\u201cI have not had one bit of pain since,\u201d she said 2 weeks after surgery. \u201cI have not taken pain medication, not even one Tylenol. I walked 2 miles yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
A better post-operative quality of life is one perk of robotic surgery, said surgical oncologist Naruhiko Ikoma, MD, who performed Pollack\u2019s procedure. <\/p>\n
There are pluses for the surgeon, as well. \u201cI feel more precise in terms of dissection and in suturing,\u201d said Ikoma. \u201cIn conventional open operations, surgeons use instruments. \u2026 In robotic surgery, surgeons feel like they\u2019re operating with their own fingers with precise tips.\u201d<\/p>\n
Look to the Future: Clinical Trials
\n ABOUT TRANSCRIPT
\nLook to the Future: Clinical Trials
\nThere are a lot of mistaken beliefs out there about clinical trials, but they may actually be the key to treating cancer.<\/p>\n
Robotic surgery, or robot-assisted surgery, is more than 20 years old, but experts believe it is now poised for growth. Propelling the technology forward are the very advantages that Pollack and Ikoma describe: improved accuracy, shorter recovery times, and less pain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 27 (ONLINE): On her flight to Atlanta, Robin Pollack nibbled gummy bears and sipped a cranberry juice cocktail. It had been a week since she’d gotten robotic surgery to remove a cancerous stomach tumor at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and she […]<\/p>\n
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