I had my traditional RRP last July from the Dr. Louis Molina quoted in
the article below.  The hospital mentioned is within sight of my house.
If only I'd gotten prostate cancer AFTER age 50 like most guys....I
could have had the robot.  Not that I'm complaining - they apparently
got all the cancer and everything is working just fine.  Dr. Molina did
fine - he's a prof. of surgery and urology at Marshall's Med School.

Does anyone know the Dr. James Jensen mentioned in the article?  It
doesn't say where he's coming from....

Robotics provide advance in prostate surgery
By Sarah Zopfi
The Herald-Dispatch
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/NEWS01/607150
312/1005/ARCHIVE

HUNTINGTON -- More than 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer are
diagnosed each year in the United States, according to the American
Cancer Society. But now there is more hope for prostate cancer that
requires surgery.

In September, Cabell Huntington Hospital will begin using the da Vinci
surgical system, which is a state-of-the-art robotic platform designed
to enable complex surgery with greater precision.

Dr. James C. Jensen, a urologist with extensive experience in advanced
robotic surgery for prostate cancer, is going to join the faculty of
the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University and
perform surgeries using the da Vinci.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that in the United States,
one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his
lifetime, but only one man in 34 will die of this disease. A little
over 1.8 million men in the United States are survivors of prostate
cancer.

Dr. Louis Molina, a urologist with University Urological Associates and
the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, said the
advantages of robotic surgery are many for patients with prostate
cancer.

In the past, prostate surgery would be done with an incision of about
18 centimeters in the abdomen to remove the prostate gland. Usually,
the average blood loss is a liter. Losing that amount of blood can make
a patient weak following surgery, Molina said.

"We try to spare the nerves on the gland so the patient can have an
erection," Molina said. "We also try to reattach the tube you urinate
from, the urethra, so that the person can still urinate without
problems."

He said about 40 percent of all prostate surgeries in the country are
now performed with the aid of a surgical robot.

The da Vinci provides the surgeon with four robotic arms to operate.
The surgery is performed through five small incisions in the abdomen.
The surgeon works behind a stereo viewer, which is not touching the
patients, but allows the surgeon to make his hand movements to be
filtered and more precise. Complex surgeries can be done through tiny
surgical openings.

"The new operation allows you to do what you used to do with the body
open through five little incisions," Molina said. "The blood loss is
only one-tenth of a liter."

In the new surgery, when the bladder is sewn back into the urethra,
doctors are able to put stitches all around the bladder, which makes
recovery time shorter.

Molina said the surgery is also better for the doctor by allowing him
to be comfortable.

"The advantage for the doctor is the magnification of that area. He is
also less tired and may be able to do more than one surgery per day,"
Molina said. "I think what we will wind up doing is being better
surgeons."

Jensen said the da Vinci is one of the most important tools to be
introduced.

"It will revolutionize the treatment," Jensen said. "It will lead to
significantly better outcomes for patients."

The da Vinci was cleared in 2000 by the FDA for general use in
laparoscopic surgery.

Molina said it is unknown if the da Vinci is a better form of surgery
for removing cancer right now, but it is just as good as the past
protocol.