Affiliation: Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Last Modified: July 17, 2008
Before Amy's cancer becomes a thing of the past, we hope and pray I thought I would update this page. Amy has two appointments for January 2009 as followup for her fight with Endometrial Cancer 2008. These will be regularly scheduled every three months for as long as needed.
Amy had a D&C last January 9, 2008 and will be visiting Dr. Kenneth Cofer on January 24th to schedule surgery. More on what Amy's surgeon said to both us today, January 24th below.
Amy and I spent about an hour post-op with her gynecologist Dr. George Vick and then were scheduled another hour with Dr. Kenneth Cofer her Oncologist. Now, I am no expert on any of this or much anything else but I will try and give you an update occasionally on her progress through the surgery and any treatment that might be necessary. Amy has gone to a cancer support group that is held in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute here in Tazewell at the Claiborne County Hospital, where she worked for almost two years. They are serving dinner and will have a speaker, from what Belinda Malicoat, who organizes the meetings here in Tazewell told us, it will be a light hearten talk as many are more advanced than Amy is at this point. She will then go just across the street to the Tazewell Methodist Church where she will join in another group that meets there every Thursday night. I got little sleep last night so will stay here at home and rest for tomorrow's work.
Dr. Cofer is a very well respected Oncologist in the Knoxville area but I am getting a second opinion on all pathology procedures to a doctor in Kentucky, Dr. Marilyn McMillan, Pathologist, who practices at several area hospitals in southeastern Kentucky. Her second pathology opinion agrees with Dr. George Vick as I already knew it would.
Amy will be going into surgery on February 6th for a complete hysterectomy that will include removal of the lymph nodes.
Dr. Cofer said that if available he will use the following procedure, which can be seen online at the following link:
Laparoscopic hysterectomy procedure that can be seen in the news clip performed by Dr. David McLaughlin with the daVinci robot system. St. Mary's, Knoxville has been using this Robotic procedure for several years.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 1, 2006 St. Mary’s Medical Center is the only healthcare facility in the Knoxville area using the next generation of robotic surgical systems to treat prostate, gynecological and cardiac cases through minimally invasive surgical procedures. St. Mary’s installed the new da Vinci S Surgical System and started performing robotic-assisted surgery in July 2006. This second generation of robotic surgical systems has incorporated advances in technology to improve the surgeon’s control of the system’s four robotic arms. Not designed to replace a surgeon, the da Vinci S System interprets and refines the surgeon’s hand movements, allowing for complex dissection or reconstruction in a minimally invasive environment. This robotic technology is designed to scale, filter and seamlessly translate the surgeons hand movements into the precise movements of the robotic arms and instruments. “Robotic-assisted surgery has been shown in many studies to be safe and effective in a number of medical procedures including prostatectomy, hysterectomy and mitral valve repair,” said Christopher Ramsey, M.D., a board-certified urologist in practice with the Urology Consultants of Knoxville and on the active staff at St. Mary’s Medical Center. “Using just five to six small incisions, robotic-assisted surgery has all the benefits of minimally invasive procedures including shorter hospital stays, less blood loss, faster recovery and a quicker return to normal activities.” “In urologic applications, the greater precision achieved through the use of robotics helps to achieve excellent outcomes in cancer control, potency and urinary function,” Dr. Ramsey added. “Robotic-assisted surgery is the wave of the future,” said L. Michael Fields, MD, who is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and is on the active staff at St. Mary’s. “In the years to come, I think you will see many more procedures done using this technology, which has many benefits for the patient.” According to Thomas Fields, the health service line leader in the St. Mary’s Surgery Department, the da Vinci S System consists of a ergonomic surgeon’s console, a patient side cart with four interactive robotic arms, a high-performance vision system and the Endowrist instruments. In contrast to conventional laparoscopy, the da Vinci S system allows the surgeon to operate from a comfortable, seated position with the eyes and hands positioned in line with the instruments. To move the instruments or to reposition the camera, all the surgeon has to do is move his/her hands. Click here for more information on the daVinci Surgical System. More information on minimally invasive surgery at St. Mary’s is available on the health system’s Web site, www.stmaryshealth.com. |
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