Chapters Transcript Video Back to Life in 10 Days Robotic Heart Bypass My name is Steve Smith. I'm 62 years old. Uh, I live here in Boca Raton and I've been here for 33 years, raised my family here. Uh, I have a wife and two grown children and a grandchild on the way, and I am a civil engineer. I stay extremely busy. We have a family farm outside of Philly from where we're originally from in Bucks County area, and it's been wonderful for the entire family. It keeps us very active and, uh, are able to, to stay physically fit by, uh, being there and working on the farm. So I was originally diagnosed with the blocked LAD in late October. This all came about when I had my annual visit with my primary doctor that said my cholesterol had ticked up and he really wanted to get me on some cholesterol medicine. So I went, uh, visit with the cardiologist. He underwent a stress test, didn't do very well on the stress test, which then prompted a coronary angiogram. That coronary angiogram showed that his proximal LAD was 100% occluded. So Doctor Taylor. Uh, was recommended to me by my cardiologist. He said, Here, Doctor Taylor is the guy to go to. So the best thing that we can offer for patients if they have that situation is to do bypass surgery and provide forward flow into the muscle bed. I was in shock, to be honest. I've never complained or had any issues or felt anything to even know that I had a problem, but at the same time. Um, there has been some family history. Coronary artery disease is the number one killer of human beings across the planet, and it's the coronary artery bypass grafting is the most common operation done worldwide because it's such a significant problem. The things that lead to it are family history, genetics, smoking, stress, poor nutrition, diabetes, the list goes on and on, but there are a number of factors. So at the Lynn Heart and Vascular Institute, we evaluate all patients together with our cardiology colleagues in cardiac surgery, looking for the best treatment options for our patients. And in Mr. Smith's case, we looked at his, his coronary angiogram and determined that stenting him. or trying to get across that 100% blockage was, was not in his best interest, so he was offered minimally invasive robotic assisted coronary artery bypass grafting. I got to tell you, my first impression after meeting with Doctor Taylor, I mean it was, we had an immediate connection. I felt like his approach when we spoke was immediately we got you, we're going to get this taken care of for you. And he made me feel so comfortable and he's so confident in what he does and how he does it. OK, that it kind of put me at ease, to be honest with you. With an operation like this because it's smaller surgery, the risk of mortality or death is usually less than 1%. The risk of stroke is also less than 1%. And the big advantage of doing smaller incision surgery is the risk of getting a blood product, and only about 10% of patients will need a blood product after an operation like this, as opposed to a bigger incision where about 30% of patients will need blood products. We took action right away. I asked the doctor how quickly I needed to have this done. He said, I'd like for you to get it done by the end of the year. The advantage of having a robotic assisted bypass operation is that we can make small. Incisions, 3 small incisions, one in the 2nd intercostal space, the 4th, and then the 6th we use the surgical robot to, to take the artery off the inside of his chest down with, with a camera and two working ports. Remove the robot, make a small incision and do a hand sewn anastomosis of the LIMA to the LED. It sets up beautifully and with that small incision, patients are generally back to work doing the things they like to do within 1 week to 10 days. Fortunately. The surgery was successful. I feel great. It was literally within a week that I felt like I could do anything that I was, I was doing before. I've been doing robotic assisted midcaps for the last 20 years of my career. I would say I've probably done close to 400 to 500 of those operations. I was very happy with the outcome of Mr. Smith's surgery, you know. Have somebody undergo any operation to move through the hospital in a short time period and get back to living a full and healthy life in a very short time period is extremely rewarding. The Lynn Heart and Vascular Institute has been an amazing place. I felt like I was being treated like a king. They were wonderful and really took really good care of me. You're really responsible for the maintenance and care of your own heart and getting to know who you are and what your family history is, and then paying attention to watching your weight, exercising, not smoking, and taking care of your heart so you never need to see somebody like me is probably the best option. Created by
