The Robot and Me

The Kantonsspital in Luzern was not unknown to me. I had been there to visit friends and to have an outpatient skin surgery in the past. I had already pre-admitted myself, so there wasn't much to do except go up to the Urology Floor. The head nurse greeted us, and I found that between the staff's English and my less than perfect German, we had no communication problems. I was admitted on a Tuesday for surgery the following AM. Dr. Mattei had told me that he does the robotics once daily, begins as the first case, and uses a dedicated team. Those were all important points for me. Blood work, chest x-ray, and EKG took up the afternoon. There were about 5 patients on the floor for surgery the next day, so we all traveled in a group to the various labs. A good night enema was the final prep. Before that, one of the nurses came in and gave me a detailed discussion of what would take place after the operation. The anesthesia doc and the professor of the department also came by to discuss his part of the following day. He laughed when I told him the last general anesthesia that I had was a tonsillectomy under open drop ether when I was in the third grade. Dr. Mattei also paid me a visit. Evertone from lab techs to Dr. Mattei wanted to know if I had any questions. I did not.

I slept well but was awake when Barbara arrived shortly after 6 AM. Anyone who knows Barbara will be assured that she loves me if she rose at such an hour. Shortly afterward, I left to go to the pre-op room. I had not received any pre-op meds until that point. An IV was started, and the anesthesia doc told me that he was going to put in an arterial line. Evidently, somebody turned out the lights then, because I knew nothing until about 8 hours later when I awoke in the post-anesthesia recovery room. The first thing that I did was to run my hand over my abdomen to see what sort of dressing I had. Any robotic procedure can be aborted and converted to an open procedure if conditions require this. I only had five band aid type dressings, so I knew that the robot had done its deed. I then became quite aware of a significant pain in my right hip and thigh. I had no other pain at all, but this was a real dilly. I had a pain pump hooked up to me that did a fine job, and because of the hip and leg, it got a pretty good workout. I stayed in this area almost 24 hours. It was not Heaven, but the nurses were angels that helped me turn and every so often rubbed my back with ice cold towels. That may not sound great, but it was just what I needed. I remember the doctor coming in. He later told me that he had been worried about me because I took so long to wake up. Truth be told, I had been awake but zonked out on the pain meds. The hip and thigh were the problem, and no one seemed to get the big picture. I went back to my room about 24 hours after awakening but stayed fogged out because I was pushing that little button on the pain pump every two hours.

Of course, I had a catheter in, but that didn't seem to bother me like a lot of others had reported. I was drinking as much water as they asked, and other than the first day, I saw no blood in the bag.. They stopped the pain pump the next day, and all of a sudden, I was hungry. One must be aware that the food in this hospital was good! Each day, I got a choice for breakfast that included any thing one could wish.For lunch and dinner, one got three menus from which to choose each time. By Friday morning, I was up and ready to eat. It was a shock when I sat up on the side of the bed to eat. My right leg shot up like a chorus girl kicks. I could not bend my knee because all those muscles were out. I had not noted this while lying down, but unless I took the left leg and held it down against the right, the leg stood straight out. The doctor was in at least daily, and when he saw this, he got the PT folks up to see me. In the meantime, I was up to sit in a chair a lot. Walking was another matter, as my right knee was not very stable. I made my own diagnosis of neurpraxia and all agreed that this seemed to be the case. The PT brought me a walker with which I could manage quite well. I knew that neurpraxia is usually a benign injury, and time would be my best friend. Later that day, I walked in the hall a bit. The Dr. Mattei came in and spoke in detail to Barbara and I about the surgery, what was done, and why it took about twice as long as the usual. He was to be off for the weekend, and asked if I would like to go home until Monday. Sweeter words I had not heard in some time, so I grabbed at the chance. I would have to come back on Monday to have a cystogram, and if it looked good, the catheter could come out. The nurses outfitted me with bags, etc. for the catheter, gave me instructions, and urged me to call if I had a problem.

One must understand that no matter how nice the hospital, home looks great. It did! There were no problems other than a leaky catheter bag which was replaced by my local urologist on a Saturday afternoon. Monday was to be the big day for the catheter removal. That was OK with me. Catheters can be downright convenient though. Looking for a bathroom is mostly only for a place to empty the bag. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to Monday.

We were there early on, a resident took me back, did the cysto, saw no leak, removed the catheter, and I was ready to go to the floor for one more night. Apparently, a lot of men have trouble with frequency that first night, so they are asked to stay close. Dr. Mattei came around that evening and was amazed that I had had no problems of any sort, was voiding normally, and met him in the hall. We had a chat, and he asked when I would like to go home. I told him "right now". I called Barbara to come and get me. He signed me out, gave some meds, and I was on my way. Other than the rare complication of the neurpraxia (which was rapidly improving), the robot was a piece of cake.