Patient receives minimally invasive lung cancer surgery

Patricia Hardy was first diagnosed with lung cancer seven years ago, at which time she had surgery to remove a malignant tumor. Since that time, she’s had regular screenings to watch for any reemergence of the cancer. Early this year, Dr. Boris Murillo, pulmonologist at Ascension Providence, identified a growing nodule on her lungs which needed to be removed, and the clinical team at Ascension Providence was able to have her quickly scheduled for minimally invasive surgery.

In July, doctors at Ascension Providence used two robots to effectively identify and remove the cancerous tumor on Patricia's lungs. Dr. Murillo and Dr. Richard Helmer, thoracic surgeon at Ascension Providence, used the Ion robot to “mark” Patricia’s lung nodule with neon dye, and while the patient was still under anesthesia, worked to remove the nodule using the da Vinci robot. This kind of comprehensive, robotic minimally invasive care is a one of a kind option for patient’s in Texas, and allows patients to spend less time in the hospital and less time recovering from the procedure.

“Ultimately, the patient is the biggest winner when it comes to this type of robotic minimally invasive surgery,” said Dr. Richard Helmer. “Every moment counts in the operating room, and the combination of using these robots allowed for correct identification of the mass right away, and saved us nearly an hour of time in the operating room with the patient under anesthesia.”
“This time was much easier than my last surgery seven years ago, as I spent less time in the hospital and I’m already able to move around much more quickly than before,” said Patricia Hardy. “The team at Ascension Providence took great care of me, and I had no concerns being in the hospital during the pandemic.”