How A Surgical Robot Saved My Life

Ten years ago, after my annual physical, my primary care physician suggested it was time for a routine PSA test. He said that this test had fallen out of fashion as unnecessary and not very accurate. Still he wanted me to stop by and pick up a lab form. When I picked up the form, he came out of the office to tell me not to worry. He was just trying to be thorough.

I got the results back and my PSA was very slightly elevated from my previous test two years earlier. Although my PSA level was still quite low, he didn’t like seeing that there was a change. He sent me to the urologist who performed a biopsy. It felt like I was getting jabbed with a needle over and over again in a very sensitive area.

Shell-Shocking News: “Rather Advanced Stages of Cancer”
A few days later, the urologist called me to come in and discuss the results of the biopsy. It was not good news. “Of the biopsy samples we took in 14 different areas of the prostate, seven of them came back in rather advanced stages of cancer.” He brought me over to a large medical diagram he had on the wall to show me in detail.

“You are going to need treatment, and soon.” Then he went through the various treatment options that included a complete prostatectomy and various forms of radiation. I sat for minute just taking it all in. The dreaded “C” word. Then I asked if I could think about it before I made any decisions. He looked at his watch. “How much time to you need?”

“I’m Not Ready to Lose You”
“Okay, I get it,” I said. “Can you make some referrals for me?” He got on the phone while I was standing there and set up appointments with a radiologist and a surgeon. I went home, shell-shocked by the news. I sat down with my wife and explained the situation. Her face went pale. I cried a little and then she said, “Well, let’s get going on this. I’m not ready to lose you.”

I spoke with the radiologist and the urological surgeon, both of whom were very sympathetic and confident that they could help me but I would need to act fast. I learned quickly that it wasn’t just a prostate problem. “The cancer may have already spread. If it’s in your bones, there isn’t much we can do,” was how the surgeon put it.

And either treatment could have side effects, like permanent incontinence and/or erectile dysfunction. Not what any man wants to hear. I tried to clear my mind of the fear that practically paralyzed me. I had to do something.

A New Robotic Tool: The da Vinci Surgical System
Everything was a blur at that point but by some strange twist of fate, I actually remembered a couple of prominent surgeons at The Ohio State University and Duke University whom I had met as part of my work as a marketing consultant. They had been having success with a new robotic tool called the da Vinci Surgical System.

I called up Drs. Patel and Albala. They both were giants in their field and they both had the same advice. The da Vinci robot was the right tool to remove my prostate gland but there was a catch. “You need to find a surgeon who has significant experience with it. Like anything else, there is a learning curve. You don’t want someone who has only done this a few times,” said one of them who shall remained unnamed.

10,000 Hours of Greatness
In his 2008 book “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell wrote that “ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness.” The meaning behind this, in theory, is simple. To be considered elite and truly experienced within a certain craft, you must practice it for ten thousand hours.¹

“So, like how many da Vinci-assisted surgeries would be a good marker?” I asked. The magic number of greatness, in my case, was 200 to 300 surgeries. I interviewed several surgeons in my area, none of whom had done more than 50 surgeries of this type. In the meantime, my urologist was checking with me daily to see if I had set a date for my surgery. Finally, my business partner’s father, who was a retired general surgeon, intervened and put me in touch with a colleague who had done over 500 da Vinci-assisted prostatectomies.

Life-Changing Results
Before my procedure, the surgeon explained that there are two nerve bundles wrapped around the prostate. Due to precision of the da Vinci robot and to his expertise, he was able to remove the prostate while taking out only a small piece of one of the nerve bundles. The result was that my incontinence and ED were temporary. I do have some lingering problems: I sometimes have leakage when I laugh too hard or play a hard game of basketball which is solved by wearing an insertable thin pad from the women’s aisle of the pharmacy; and I do have some problems with sexual performance that, thankfully, Viagra can usually solve.

Why am I sharing all this highly personal information? Because a surgical robot saved my life. Straight up.

1. Forbes, “The Magic Number of Greatness,” Oct. 24, 2019

SGD is a San Francisco Bay Area advertising, marketing and branding agency specializing in the senior and boomer markets. 

About the Author: Duff is a Partner at SGD Advertising.