Vim & Vigor - Winter 2019 - CH - 51

invasive approach under the control of
a surgeon working from a console has
broadened the breadth of cases that are
being performed at St. Catherine Hospital.
Robot-assisted surgery is used to treat
prostate cancer, to remove kidneys and
gallbladders, to repair hernias and to
perform colon resection, cardiothoracic
procedures, urologic applications, hysterectomy and other gynecologic laparoscopic procedures.
The surgeon sits at the console and
operates the robot's controls while looking into a stereoscopic monitor that provides a magnified three-dimensional view
of the surgical site with fingertip precision on movement.
The device's instrumentation mimics the wrist of the surgeon and makes
surgical procedures more efficient than
ever, especially for difficult and complex
operations such as the Whipple procedure to remove tumors in the pancreas
and reconstruct a large part of the
gastrointestinal tract.
"Patients who are candidates for
robot-assisted surgery frequently have a
shorter recovery time, less pain, fewer
complications and shorter hospital
stays," says Lori McBride, RN, director
of Surgical Services.

remove the spot. Everything was excellent: the surgery, the care, the doctors,
the staff, everything."
St. Catherine Hospital is planning to
expand its surgical coverage significantly
in 2020 in cancer, cardiothoracic, urology and orthopedics care. Surgeries like
total knee replacement, which once kept
patients in the hospital for many days,
are now being performed in a minimally
invasive way, getting patients on the
road to recovery sooner.
"Some patients are very healthy and
are great candidates to go home the
same day," says Terrence Dempsey, MD,
a general surgeon who specializes in
medical procedures that include acid
reflux treatment, appendectomy, and
breast, cholecystectomy, parathyroid
and thyroid surgery.
Otolaryngologist Kedar Kakodkar, MD,
has been performing adult and
pediatric surgeries for five years at
St. Catherine Hospital and has an interest in head and neck cancer surgery, thyroidectomy and salivary gland surgery.
"From excellent nursing care before,

WEBSITE

Learn About
Robotic Surgery
To learn more about
surgical services available at
St. Catherine Hospital, visit
COMHS.org. To find a physician
who performs robotic surgery
on staff at the hospitals of
Community Healthcare System,
call 219-836-3477 or toll-free
866-836-3477.
during and after surgery, to the excellent anesthesia and state-of-art equipment, my patients have always been
very impressed by the level of care
offered at St. Catherine Hospital,"
Kakodkar says. "The hospital strives
to provide a multidisciplinary team
approach to the treatment of head and
neck cancer, and I am truly happy to be
part of this team." ■

Experts in Cancer
Care and Beyond

Gilberto Lopez, 60, of East Chicago,
appreciates that he lives close to his
care team.
Lopez had a tumor removed from
his right lung in April and another from
his left lung one month later by Jason
Frazier, MD, a cardiothoracic and cardiovascular surgeon, before beginning chemotherapy at the Cancer Center in July.
"The tumor on my left lung was hidden, so a wire was inserted to help guide
the doctor to the spot," Lopez says. "A
half-hour later, I was taken to surgery to

Surgeon Terrence Dempsey, MD, scrubs in for robotic
surgery at St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago.

WINTE R 2019

http://www.COMHS.org

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2019 - CH

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