Sherri Cooper – da Vinci Hysterectomy Success Story

How a da Vinci robotic procedure transformed Sherri Cooper’s future — for both her and her children

Since having a minimally invasive hysterectomy with the da Vinci robot, Sherri Cooper is pain-free and able to have fun with her family.

Last fall Sherri Cooper, 46, was living the life of an active mom, raising two young sons and helping others as a teacher’s aide at Northside Elementary School in Waxahachie.

“My aim was to be a little healthier, stronger, and wiser,” she says. “I was feeling good.”

Occasionally, however, sharp pain in her left side interfered with her goals.

“The cramps would come on suddenly, and it felt like my side was going to explode,” she says. “The pain put limitations on my daily routine.”

Cooper finally made an appointment with her OB-GYN, David Morehead, DO, independently practicing physician on the medical staff at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. After a thorough examination, he diagnosed Cooper with a persistent cyst in her left ovary.

“Many women have ovarian cysts at some time during their lives,” Dr. Morehead says. “They can cause menstrual irregularities; nausea; and a constant or intermittent dull ache that radiates to the pelvis, lower abdomen, or back.”

Cooper was all too familiar with the debilitating pain, and she was experiencing heavy periods. But there were other factors to consider, as well. For starters, she was a breast cancer survivor with a family history of cancer. Even more important, she had her boys to think of. She needed to be able to care for them.

A total hysterectomy, which includes removal of both ovaries, would relieve her pain and heavy periods as well as reduce her risk of recurrent breast cancer.

Robot to the rescue

“At first I didn’t see how I was going to fit surgery into my teaching schedule, because I didn’t want to be laid up for a lengthy recovery,” Cooper says. “Then Dr. Morehead told me about the new, less invasive approach to a hysterectomy with the da Vinci robotic technology.”

Procedures with the da Vinci® Surgical System offer less pain and faster recoveries than with open procedures. For example, Cooper’s da Vinci hysterectomy procedure was Dec. 6, 2012, and on Dec. 7, she was back home with her kids. Two weeks later, she was ready to go back to work.

“Dr. Morehead and his surgical skills with da Vinci and the team at Methodist Mansfield were amazing,” she says. “I cannot believe what a difference this surgery has made in the quality of my life. I’m having fun with my kids, laughing, living, and enjoying every minute.”

From the summer 2013 edition of Shine magazine.