Facing Surgery

As I write this, I am two and a half weeks away from major surgery. After several CT scans, a bone scan, and consultation with my urologist, it was decided surgery was the best path for addressing my cancer.

On March 29, my prostate and my left kidney will be removed. The surgery should take 5 to 6 hours. The kidney will be removed first, followed by my prostate. And the surgery will be done with a robot. That does not mean the robot will be performing by itself. The surgeon will be in control of its movements.
As I understand it, the surgeon sits at a console with hand- and foot-operated controls. There is a camera, also under his control, so he can see what he is doing. The technology miniaturizes his movements so he can more precisely dissect out nerves and blood vessels.

Using the robot will make the surgery take longer, but it reduces bleeding and recovery time. Instead of two large incisions (one for kidney, one for prostate) I will have about 10 small incisions. These allow the camera and tools to be inserted into my abdomen. To give the surgeon room to work, my abdomen will be inflated with carbon dioxide.
I learned most of this through YouTube videos about the surgeries I will be having. There are also videos by people who have had similar surgeries describing their recovery experience. So if you’d like to learn more, do a couple of YouTube searches.
I’ve included a picture of a robot used to do this kind of surgery below. I don’t know what brand or model of robot they will be using, but people who know these things have mentioned the DaVinci robot.