Recovering from robotic heart surgery
A couple of months ago I was suffering from chest pains. The doctors did all the regular tests and finally decided that I needed a heart operation. It was unexpected, but it didn't worry me so much at first. I thought that a few weeks off work was all that was necessary.
The real shock came when they explained that they were going to use a modern robotic arm to carry out the surgery. The hospital had a new system called da Vinci that allowed doctors to operate on the heart without cutting the chest open. Although I felt I could trust my doctors, placing my heart in the hands of a steel machine just seemed like a different matter altogether. I wasn't looking forward to it at all.
On the day of the surgery. I tried to keep as calm as I could. The operation itself lasted less than thirty minutes and I was under general anaesthetic the whole time. The only thing I remember is the doctor saying that the da Vinci system was more reliable than the finest doctor in the world.
When I woke up, I could understand why. There were hardly any signs of the operation at all. My chest didn't ache, and the only marks I had were four tiny scars on my chest the size of peanuts. Best of all, they let me leave the hospital after four days of important checks and resting. I can't say that I'd ever like to do it again, but I'm certainly a lot less scared of it now.
