DENISON, TX - Several doctors at TMC have started using the new DaVinci Robot in surgeries. Today we talked to surgeons and patients to see what they're saying about the new technology.

Today we talked to the very first patient at TMC to have an operation using the DaVinci Robot.
She says she was able to leave the hospital the next day and she's surprised at how fast she's recoverd.

"I didn't know what it was, honestly, so I trusted my surgeon, it looked almost kind of intimidating, because it's this big thing with arms." said Tracy Sanders.

Tracy Sanders had her gall bladder removed just 2 weeks ago. She was the first patient at TMC to undergo an operation using the DaVinci Robot.

"All I knew is they were pushing my surgery back cause they were waiting on some special equipment they needed for my surgery, that's all I was told." Sanders said.

Sanders says she's still shocked at how quickly she's recovering.

"I was out of there the next morning, I was out, and I guess a couple of days later I was doing pretty good." said Sanders.

"Because they don't have as much incision, they have less pain with that and they're able to get back to normal activities quicker." said Dr. Pat McGrael.

Urologist, Dr. Pat McGrael, performed his first 2 surgeries using the DaVinci Robot on Monday.

"When I went through my training 25 years ago we opened people up, put your hands in there." McGrael said.

He says the DaVinci robot is expanding the options for patients with kidney cancer.

"For years what we would do, you would control the blood supply in and out of the kidney, and take the whole kidney out if there was a cancer in it." said McGrael.

Because the robot magnifies the area, surgeons can see things they wouldn't be able to see with the naked eye.
Dr. McGrael says this allows them to be more precise, and in many cases they can actually save the organ.

"I got a better way to help people, I can go in and remove only the part that's causing the problem." McGrael said.

The DaVinci Robot is currently being used in minimally invasive Gynecologic and Urologic procedures, but TMC says they hope to eventually expand into heart surgeries.