The Da Vinci Xi Surgical Robot
This innovative piece of technology allows for a minimally invasive surgical approach, giving our patients faster recovery times so they spend only days, rather than weeks in the hospital.
Your support will also be helping to reduce surgical wait times, as well as offering a potentially life saving avenue of treatment for patients who are not eligible for traditional open surgery.
- Dr Nari Ahmadi, Urologist & Robotic Surgeon
The da Vinci Xi surgical robot
A/Professor Christopher Cao
- Associate Professor Christopher Cao, Cardiothoracic & Robotic Surgeon
Mitchell's Story
As an excavator operator, Mitchell had worked around asbestos and dust for most of his career, before the potentially deadly health implications were known or safety precautions were up to scratch.
During his annual check-up, an x-ray of his chest showed a spot on his lung.
“I was frightened a little bit I suppose, but I was hoping that it could be something else, but it wasn't. And so, I just had to move on with it and see what the doctors say.” - Mitchell
With the x-ray weighing on his mind, Mitchell prepared himself for the worst but hoped for the best. The spot on his lung could have been a number of different things but further testing showed it was unfortunately cancer of the lung.
Mitchell came to Chris O’Brien Lifehouse where he received care & treatment from Dr Christopher Cao, an expert in cardiothoracic & robotic surgery. With the da Vinci surgical robot in his control, Dr Cao was able to get precise margins on the tumour through only a few minimally invasive port holes for the robotic tools.
If the surgery had been a more traditional open surgery Mitchell would have faced months of recovery as well as a large wound on his chest, instead, only a month post-surgery Mitchell is back to his old life, returning to work & playing with his grandchildren.
Thanks to the precision of the robot in Dr Cao’s skilled hands, the tumour was completely removed.
"These robotic surgeries are brilliant. It just got me back on track again and back to work pretty quick. It’s not long until I retire, start traveling, and give me my life back." - Mitchell
Mitchell
for robotic surgery.” - Zac
Zac's Story
Zac
With a minimally invasive approach, he would be able to access the tumour by going around key organs in the abdomen, rather than having to make a large incision and scoop the organs to the side.
“I was told that where my tumour was, was very close to my main vein. If they missed even by a fraction of a millimetre, they would've cut straight into my vein, and if they missed the other way, they would've cut into the tumour.” - Zac
Dr Nari Ahmadi
If you would like to learn more about what is happening at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse or receive more stories like Mitchell’s and Zac’s, you can subscribe here