A Speedy Recovery at Home Thanks to Robotic Assisted Surgery [Video]

Dr. Kanaga Sena had been dealing with pain in his left lower abdomen for years. “We did a CAT scan and showed the presence of diverticulitis, which is inflamed bubbles on the surface of my large intestine.”

After antibiotics didn’t help, he decided to go ahead with surgery to remove part of the colon. Lee Health offers the latest in minimally invasive robotic assisted surgery for the procedure. “The machine is making it easy for him, less invasive, more precise. He is able to look at my internal organs, 3D, with bright light. Able to put the sutures in very easily. The arm, the wrist, they call it technically, I think. It’s more flexible than the surgeon’s own hand.” Dr. Sena had very little pain when he woke up in his hospital bed the next morning. “I took only Tylenol, no other narcotic pain medication.”

In the past, this kind of surgery may have required up to a 10-day hospital stay, but with the help of the robot, he was able to recover at home just 2 days later, which Sena said makes all the difference. “My family is there next to me. My friends can come and visit me. And home is home. Your bed is your bed. I mean, hospital can be best when you need them, but nothing like comforting like your own home.”

Within 2 weeks, he was able to go back to the gym and eat a regular diet. We spoke with him about a month post procedure. “No, I have no pains at all. I’m being careful in my diet. I want to, you know, even though the surgeon gave me the green light, I’m advancing this carefully. I’m doing my exercises. I’m back to start teaching again. So, I think everything’s just fine.” You can lean more by searching for robotic surgery on leehealth.org.

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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.

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