CHRISTUS Southeast Texas - LiveWell

During the summer of 2015, Dale, a 65-year-old retired elementary school teacher from Orange, began experiencing strange, uncomfortable symptoms. "When I ate, the food just didn't seem to want to go down," Dale says. "I felt full all the time, and I started having lingering discomfort after eating. The discomfort would increase to the point that I would have to stop eating. Sleeping became difficult, too." A local physician diagnosed Dale with a paraesophageal hernia, an uncommon type of hiatal hernia. Many people she knew told her to see Kevin Dean, M.D., FACS, general, laparoscopic and robotic surgeon at CHRISTUS Southeast Texas St. Elizabeth. EVERY THING IN ITS PL ACE In September, Dale visited Dr. Dean. "Dale's entire stomach had slipped through an opening in the diaphragm into her chest," Dr. Dean says. "When this happens, patients may feel reflux-like symptoms at first as the upper part of the stomach moves in and out of the chest. As time passes and more of the stomach slips out of position, patients may feel chest pain or experience shortness of breath as the stomach bulges into the area between the lungs and behind the heart." Dr. Dean recommended da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery, a minimally invasive procedure performed with robotic assistance that requires less patient recovery time. The surgeon is in complete control of the robotic system, and the system enables Dr. Dean to operate with precision and accuracy. "I didn't know anyone who'd had surgery using the da Vinci system," she says. "Dr. Dean spent a long time explaining how the system worked and what the surgery would entail, which really impressed me. He didn't hurry through the visit at all." Dr. Dean performed the surgery in January 2016. He made sure Dale got the answers she needed before she had the procedure. Now, she couldn't be more pleased with the results. "This type of repair used to require a large incision between the ribs and opening the chest," he says. "With da Vinci, we do the whole procedure through several small incisions in the abdomen." LOVING LIFE AGAIN The procedure went smoothly, as did Dale's recovery. She is amazed by the difference in her quality of life. "I can lie in bed and sleep again, and I can eat without discomfort," Dale says. "Living with pain for so long almost made me forget what life was like without it." To learn more about our robotic-assisted surgery program, visit christussetx.org/robotic-surgery. "After the procedure, Dr. Dean let me know exactly what I could do during each week of my recovery. This was great because elementary school teachers like me are direction-followers!" — Dale Carlton, who had robotic-assisted hernia repair at CHRISTUS Southeast Texas St. Elizabeth in January 2016 Surgical System I Head of It Cla Kevin Dean, M.D. Like any good teacher, Dale Carlton had a lot of questions when she learned she was a candidate for hernia repair using the robotic da Vinci® Surgical System. Dale Carlton with her grandson, Briggs Lucas LiveWell | Spring 2016 3

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