Kidney Surgery Video: Bree's Story

For More Information: Learn more about minimally invasive robotic kidney surgery at Sharp.

Transcript

Bree's dad: With three brothers and me, we don’t give up a lot of sympathy.

Bree: I was screaming. I just can’t even explain the pain.

Friend: She texted me and said that “I’m going into the hospital right now.”

Bree: They did a whole bunch of X-rays and all sorts of stuff and it ended up being a kidney failing.

Bree's dad: Then when she was in the emergency room, I had worked all day and I came up and then that’s when Shane said, “Dad, her kidney’s messed up.”

Dr. Julian Anthony, Urologist: This has been a problem that Bree has had her entire life. Bree’s problem is right here where the ureter joins into the kidney and it’s been getting progressively worse to the point where her kidney function on the affected side is 20 percent. One of the options that she was originally given was to just remove the kidney.

Bree's dad: And when we went and met with Dr. Anthony, he’s the one who said it would be better just to go ahead and try to repair it.

Friend: I love you. Yeah, me too, I’ll be there tonight.

Friend: I love you.

Bree: I love you, too.

Dr. Anthony: Bree is coming to us today so that we can robotically repair her kidney.

Bree: I’m always in pain. Hopefully the surgery will make it go away.

Bree: Says: “Surgery day … I’m super nervous and freaking myself out. Hopefully today goes by fast.”

Nurse: And they’re going to do a right robotic-assisted laparoscopic dismembered pyloplasty.

Dr. Anthony: We’re going to go in and we’re gonna disconnect your kidney where it’s blocked and reconnect it and put everything back together OK.

Bree: I just want to have it done and just trust the people that are doing it and then come out and be better.

Nurse: She’ll be OK. We’ll take good care of you. OK?

Colleen Murphy, RN: We’re more than just a lab coat with a name or scrubs with a badge. We’re people, too, who understand that you’re afraid, who understand that this is a unique moment in your life and that we’re going to get through this together.

Smitty: We’re gonna take really good care of you. Try to relax, nice pleasant thoughts.

Dr. Anthony: We have the, we have the kidney here. So when I look in I have a 3-D picture. The wrist movements move the entire instrument. The finger movements open and close the instruments.

This is the ureter here. And then this crossing vessel is what’s caused her obstruction. So we’re going to disconnect the ureter and reattach it.

Without the robot, the incision she would have had would probably be about here as opposed to the eight millimeter port site scars. So we’re spatulating it now. We’re opening up the ureter to sew it back.

Robotically her postoperative advantages are she’s gonna have less pain. My expectation would be that she’s gonna be leaving the hospital probably on day one, day two, feeling back to normal somewhere around the two week mark.

So everything’s put back together. She’s no longer obstructed. She’s no longer blocked. Thank you, everyone.

Dr. Anthony: Bree recently came in, she’s doing great. She has no pain. She was texting. [Laugh]