Methodist Health System | Methodist Richardson Medical Center | Shine | Summer 2015

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Da Vinci
for the
In August 2014, when Madeline Stokes took the field for her
junior year on the Centenary College soccer team, she couldn’t
believe how great she felt.
“We have two-a-day practices, and usually I would have some
kind of issue with my stomach that kept me from performing
my best that day,” the 21-year-old Dallas native says. “But that
season, I didn’t feel uncomfortable during my practices and
games, and I didn’t need bathroom and water breaks as often.
My coach even noticed the difference.”
The difference was the robotic da Vinci® Surgical System.
Being heard, being helped
Madeline had struggled for years with stomach problems:
shooting pains, chronic nausea, heartburn. Other doctors had
brushed it off as irritable bowel syndrome, but Madeline knew
there was more to the problems. So last summer, when Ramsey
Stone, MD, general surgeon on the medical staff at Methodist
Richardson Medical Center, diagnosed her with an inflamed
gallbladder, Madeline was relieved to finally have an answer.
“Dr. Stone actually listened to what I was saying and trusted
me as a patient,” she says.
The surgeon scheduled a Single-Site® gallbladder removal with
the da Vinci robot just a couple weeks later.
Fast healing
The main benefit of Single-Site is that it requires only one
incision, usually through or near the patient’s belly button.
“The cosmetic result is minimal scarring, because there is
one incision instead of four,” says Dr. Stone, who has eight
years’ experience working with da Vinci. “We also see that
most people experience less pain and return to work and
activity faster.”
That was the goal for Madeline, who had a nursing internship
and part-time job that summer, not to mention a 2014 soccer
season to get ready for.
“The recovery time was amazing,” she says. “I only needed
mild pain medication for a couple of days and was back to my
workouts in a month. With an open procedure, it would have
taken even longer to get back to my training. And it’s remarkable
how little scarring I have. You can’t even see it.”
As she gets ready for her senior year and the 2015 season, she
can trust that stomach pain won’t be holding her back.
goal!
Methodist Richardson Medical Center • Summer 2015 7