da Vinci vs. open

Can docs see nerves with the magnification used in Da Vinci?  Can they see abnormalities on prostate that a doctor may feel with open surgery?

Courtney ~ Thank you for letting me move this over here!!!!!    mama bluebird Partial Quote from different thread: Courtney, Do you have a problem with me copying and pasting this posting in to your new thread da Vinci vs. open ?   It has such good questions and information.   I’d like to respond there if it’s okay for you.   It’s going to get lost in this thread…   I will wait for your answer…   Courtney Quote from different thread: You are more than welcome to move this. I think this just hits me a little deeper because I lost my dad to prostate cancer. He was 49 years old when diagnosised and lived for 4 & 1/2 years. He died 10 years ago to the day my husband was diagnosised. I am only 34 years old and can't stand this cancer!!!!! Thank you for your support. I really truly appreciate it, I would say more than you know, but unfortunetly, you do.....   Courtney Partial Quote from different thread: 3 days ago leaning heavily toward da Vinci, very interested in a surgeon in Austin who as of feb, 06 had performed over 500. Met with 2nd urologist today. Night & day from 1st guy. He really sat us down and talked to us openly. He said that he would help us even if we chose to go out of state for surgery. He does seem a little concern regarding both lobes and did state that it does increase chances of noncontainment, but still feel confident with PSA and Gleason. He told us that with open, they are basically guessing where to cut the nerves because they can't see them, but with da Vinci there is a higher margain for leaving cancer cells behind due to the robot can't feel and make a wider cut. He did agree that the healing factor does lean toward da Vinci, and felt the incontinace and impotence rates are about equal. My question is can the surgeon doing the robot surgery see the nerves due to 12X mag? #1 goal for us is NO MORE Cancer!!! So open may be our way....... However statistics on da Vinci........ You ever feel like your back to where you started??? Sorry to ramble on. Kurt took kids to baseball lesson, and just needed to vent. Courtney   mama bluebird Quote from different thread: Hi ~ Courtney, It sounds to me like someone needs a real big HUG!!!!! This “Hug”is just for   you!!!   You’re going to hit OVERLOAD and that’s when you really need to just STOP and take a deep breath… .   Truly…. It will help you!!   Then re-group and move forward.   The most important thing right now is not getting down and letting the mental overpower your physical.                                KNOWLEDGE IS POWER... and POWER conquers FEAR!!!!!   You get on here ramble and vent all you want!!!   We will always be here… just let it out.   Don’t let it build up.   You’re going to be okay….   The reason I know this is ~ we’ve been there.   And the most important thing to remember..   Is   YOU ARE NOT ALONE…. okay….   We are tucking you close to our hearts ~ lending you extra strength… at this time. In Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy

kizi,

The question you pose is a good one. I will just share what my surgeon told me when I asked a similar question of him. My surgeon had done over 2,000 open prostatectomies before changing over to Da Vincis. He has since done over 900 Da Vincis so it is safe to say he has a very good perspective on both types. His comments to me was the surgical field was so much clearer and cleaner with the Da Vinci there was no doubt in his mind his precision was better. The three dimensional view the camera gives him is as if he is right there next to the prostate. His urologic group at the university based medical center has been collecting data and while they are not ready to publish it yet he told me the complication rates are better for the Da Vincis he is doing compared to the open procedure two other surgeons in the group are doing. While that is the case for most of the men that come to him there are situations where he recommends the open. Most of these are men with more advanced PC where the ability to feel is required.

Tamu

hi kziz

here is the link to Dr. Menon on the last post.

http://www.henryfordhealth.org/body.cfm?id=39168

from what i have read and heard, he is one of the top robotic surgeons in the U.S. and probably closest to your home. dr. menon was acutally one of the pioneers in robotic surgery. good luck.

Dave