MY RELATIONSHIP TO DA VINCI SURGERY: Patient

MY CONDITION: Heart Murmur / Irregular Heartbeat

TYPE OF PROCEDURE I HAD: da Vinci Mitral Valve Repair

MY SURGEON: Dr. Douglas Murphy

HOSPITAL WHERE MY PROCEDURE WAS PERFORMED: Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta

HOW LONG I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL:
My surgery was on a Thursday; they started about 11:30, finished about 3:30. By 8:30 that evening I was awake; by 11:30 that evening I was standing next to my bed; they had me sitting in a chair. Less than 24 hours after the surgery, I was in a private room, no longer connected to several tubes and so on, able to get up out of bed, ready for real food, ready to get on with it. Three and a half days after surgery I was released to go home, and it would have actually been a little bit faster if the releasing surgeon hadn't been called to an emergency and was unavailable.

ABOUT MY RECOVERY TIME:
I'm just short of five weeks out today. Four and a half. When I say I'm completely healed, I'm not ready to go out and go swimming. I still have, obviously, some minor wounds that are there. Most people, if they see me at a swimming pool this coming summer, won't be aware I had surgery.

HOW DA VINCI SURGERY COMPARED TO MY PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES OR PRECONCEPTIONS OF SURGERY:
I was in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with people who'd had the traditional procedure where they went straight through the chest and split the rib cage, and I can tell you that those people who were in the ICU when I was there didn't seem to be in as good shape as I was, and they seemed to be in a good bit more pain and have a good bit more issues to work through in terms of trying to get better.

I WOULD RECOMMEND DA VINCI SURGERY TO MY FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS!

There are things that you can't do or that you must do because you have a procedure that cuts through your rib cage that just don't apply when no bone is involved.
Everybody that I've talked to (I've told that) this is really the way to do it, if there's any possible way to do it. It amplifies the surgeon's abilities, because of the computer controls it dampens any tremors that might be there. That makes them more sure and more confident. The idea of being able to go in there at twelve times the scale (magnification) means that you can be so much more accurate and so much more careful. That's got to lead to a better outcome.
I am just so happy. It has made a major change in my life.