John Carter

John Carter of Evergreen, Colorado is as rugged as the Old West. In the small mountain community southwest of Denver, it’s easy to imagine what life was like when trappers and traders were the Trader Joe’s of their day. John enjoys that quieter, simpler life — taking in the trees and the trails with his dog. In May 2023, he became a new kind of pioneer: the first patient in the Rocky Mountain Region to undergo a single-port robot-assisted surgery.

The choice was clear

Routine blood work at John’s annual exam showed he had elevated levels of a compound called Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), a possible indicator of cancer. He had been doing regular checks at the local urology center as he got older, but these results were different than before. John’s urologist, Dr. Brett Abernathy, interpreted the results quickly and correctly and then recommended he meet with Dr. Marklyn Jones, a urologic surgeon at Swedish Medical Center, to discuss his options. Concerned about the prospect of surgery, John got a second opinion. That doctor also recommended he see Dr. Jones.

“I had a brother-in-law who had a prostatectomy 15 years ago, and his recovery took weeks. So, when Dr. Jones started explaining the benefits of Swedish’s new single-port robot, I was really interested,” John said. “For me, the single-port worked great. Recovery was easy, I can’t describe it any other way. They just had me on Excedrin, but I think that was preventative more than anything. I wasn’t uncomfortable at all.”

High tech tool

Swedish Medical Center’s investment to bringing the single-port device opens a new frontier for care offerings. “I think it is the future of minimally invasive surgery. Medicine will always move towards making instruments smaller, more precise and less invasive for the patient. That's the evolution we've already seen from traditional open surgeries to laparoscopic, and now we have the assistance of the most advanced class of robotic instruments,” said Dr. Jones.

The patient benefits are unmatched: reduced scarring, reduced bleeding and reduced recovery time. All of those and the team’s expertise helped put John at ease, “Dr. Jones really walked me through the process. And the one thing I kept coming back to from our very first conference is that he said, ‘We’ll take good care of you,’ and everybody did. He did exactly what he said he would do.”

“Easy” recovery

After his surgery, John said his nursing team knew he was the first to use the new single-port device. They were impressed by how well he responded. He was discharged the next morning. “There was no pain, and that continued throughout the recovery process. They recommended 30 days of just taking it easy, which I did, but I never felt pain in those 30 days. It was a really easy procedure,” John said.

These days, John has one less thing to worry about when he’s enjoying the wilderness just steps away from his Evergreen house. He chose the unparalleled team and cutting-edge technology, single-port robotic surgery now available at Swedish Medical Center, and it made all the difference. “The team probably saved my life. I would say thank you and I’ll never forget what they did for me.”

Learn more about minimally invasive surgery and the oncology experts at Swedish Medical Center. To find a physician specializing in robotic surgery at Swedish, call (303) 575-0055.