Patient and Doctor Interviews on Robotic Surgery

Tiffany Pena’s Story

Tiffany Pena, a 28-year-old substitute teacher, suffered from a disease called achalasia. It made it difficult for her to swallow foods and liquids and get the right amount of nutrition. The only treatment for achalasia was surgery. In 2008, Tiffany was referred to the UC Davis Division of Gastrointestinal and Minimally Invasive Surgery. Dr. Tamas Vidovsky performed a robotic esophageal myotomy on Tiffany. After the surgery, Tiffany explained that she had much less pain and discomfort than she had expected. Within a couple of weeks, she was able to resume most of her normal everyday activities. (Citation 59)

Barry Broughton’s Story

Barry Broughton, a successful marketing executive, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Barry and his physician, UCLA urologist Dr. Robert Reiter, who is the director of the Prostate Cancer Treatment Program at UCLA, talked about Barry’s options. After discussing, they decided the best choice would be to use robotic technology to remove the cancerous prostate. After his surgery, Barry was up and walking the next day. Now he is cancer free. (Citation 60)

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