For Unity man, new robotic heart surgery was a lifesaver

Rick May credits his surgeon, Dr. Hiroyuki Tsukui, with changing his life after he had a heart attack.

Doctors found blockage in his heart and offered him a choice — he could have open heart surgery or consider being the first patient to undergo robotic heart surgery through Independence Health System.

He chose robotic heart surgery.

“I said, ‘Do you have to split me open?’ They said ‘no,’ ” May, 66, of Unity said. “I said, ‘Then, I’m … good to go.’ ”

May’s heart attack occurred in May 2022, but he wasn’t able to have the surgery until this past March.

The robotic room at the hospital wasn’t yet ready, and May was on medication trying to reverse the blockage, but that ultimately didn’t work.

Once the date of his surgery arrived, the process of the robotic coronary artery bypass surgery itself was “great,” May said.

“I had no pain — zero,” May said, “and I was released in three days from the hospital.”

Within 15 days, he was allowed to drive his pickup, and he said he never had to attend therapy, as he completed his own therapy at home. In only eight weeks, his recovery was at the stage of what an open heart surgery patient’s progress would be in eight months.

On Monday, May got to see Tsukui, 53, of Greensburg for the first time since he fully recovered. They attended Independence Health System’s heart care event at Westmoreland Mall.

Dr. James Adisey, medical director for Independence Health’s Heart, Lung and Vascular Institute, president of the medical staff and board member for the health system, said the event was meant to be a “show and tell.”

The program allowed various Independence Health doctors and medical professionals to let the local community know what care is available to them, said Adisey of Greensburg.

Adisey said he hopes attendees — which included students from the Greater Latrobe School District — take the information home to their families. He also hopes it will inspire some of the students to go into medicine.

“The goal is to try to produce world-class type of care in this institute,” Adisey said.

Tsukui explained the main difference between the tradition and robotic surgeries is how doctors gain access to the heart. In an open heart procedure, surgeons cut a 10-inch incision into the skin and crack the patient’s bones in order to perform the operation.

However, during robotic surgery, access is gained through the side of the patient’s chest — through only small incisions.

In order to be a candidate for robotic surgery, Tsukui said the patient must be physically able to wait at least an hour for the surgery. If there’s a dire emergency, robotic surgery won’t be considered, he said.

Since May’s robotic heart surgery in March, Tsukui said he’s performed about 10 others, and his schedule is filling rapidly.

“Surgery time is getting short and shorter,” Tsukui said. “Every single time, (we’re) improving.”

May said he’d recommend getting robotic heart surgery to anyone if they have the choice. “You’d have to be a fool not to go through robotic surgery,” May said.

Tsukui said he believes robotic heart surgery will become more common, as it gives the patient a quicker recovery and fewer complications. Additionally, there is a cosmetic aspect added with the small incisions, he said.

“It means I’m still alive,” May said.

For the second year, Independence Health’s Westmoreland Hospital placed in the top 5% of the nation’s hospitals for excellence in cardiac surgery and the top 10 % of hospitals nationwide for cardiac care by Healthgrades.

It is one of 12 hospitals in Pennsylvania to make Healthgrades’ list of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care.

Those working in Independence Health’s hospitals are “talented and kind,” Adisey said, and they’re willing to take care of the local community.

“These are people you see in the grocery store … it gives you a sense of comfort,” Adisey said. “I want people in the community to know that.”