Patient Stories
Sutter Health Cancer Services
Cecil - Flying High
As with all good helicopter pilots, Cecil is not easily thrown. In his job as an air ambulance pilot, he is used to staying calm despite making split-second decisions in life and death situations.
When he found out he had prostate cancer, his first reaction was to figure out the best way to handle it. "I didn't panic," he says. "I just knew I had to asses the situation and decide my next move."
Luckily, his wife, Ginger, saw a news story featuring Sutter Cancer Center's robotic prostatectomy program. Impressed and hopeful, she and Cecil turned to the Internet to find out more about this robot -- called the da Vinci Surgical System. After hours of research, they knew their next step: an appointment with Dr. Brian Naftulin, medical director of robotic surgery at Sacramento's Sutter Cancer Center.
At his consultation, Dr. Naftulin explained which options were available to Cecil to not only treat the cancer, but to maintain his active lifestyle. "He was up front with me and broke it down so I better understood my diagnosis, my choices and their ramifcations," Cecil said about Dr. Naftulin. "I chose robotic surgery since it is nerve-sparing and the recovery time is faster."
Dr. Naftulin was not surprised by Cecil's decision. "Nerve-sparing means reduced risk of incontinence or impotence," says Dr. Naftulin. "And those are two of many reasons that I have come to advocate the robotic prostatectomy for most patients."
Cecil was released from the hospital only one day after his surgery at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. Although Dr. Naftulin cleared him for work sooner, the FAA's strict regulations allowed Cecil back in the pilot seat after three months. "I'm 95 percent back to normal," says Cecil. "Not bad for going in for cancer surgery just a few months earlier."
Learn more about Sutter Cancer Center's robotic prostatectomy program.
Back to top | More Patient Stories