Kersey resident Thea Hora truly believes new local Banner Healthsurgeon Dr. Alexander Pak may be the best doctor in the world.
Dr. Alexander Pak is a surgeon who came to Greeley and joined the Banner Health staff in July. He specializes in heart and lung surgery and surgery for lung and esophageal cancer. His preferred approach for lung cancer surgery is the minimally invasive da Vinci robotic system. Before coming to Greeley, Pak spent 19 years practicing in Kansas City, Mo. He attended the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in Madison, Wis., and completed his residencies at the State University of New York in Buffalo, N.Y. He practices at Banner Heath Clinic, 1800 15th St., Suite 340, in Greeley. To make an appointment, call (970) 810-4593.”, “_swift_infobox_editor”: “field_5c40f094cbeeb” }, “align”: “right”, “mode”: “edit”} /–>
Why? Among Pak’s rare attributes is his ability to be as hands off as possibly. Yes, you read that right – hands off.
When Banner Health hired Pak to practice at the Banner HealthClinic, 1800 15th St., Suite 340 in Greeley, Pak brought with him 23 years ofexperience.
He also brought with him an innovative method for performing lungsurgery.
He uses the minimally invasive da Vinci robotic system.
With the da Vinci system, Pak, 56, sits at a console and controls robotic hands that are able to maneuver into spaces tighter than what human hands are able to fit. The result is a surgical procedure that allows a surgeon to remove part of a damaged or cancerous lung without cracking someone’s chest open.
“It is really revolutionary,” said Pak, who arrived in Greeley inJuly after spending the previous 19 years practicing in Kansas City, Mo. “Allpatients are going to have some surgical discomfort the first day or two aftersurgery. But then after that, you really see a big difference as far aslessening the amount of patient discomfort, because you’re not dividing anymuscles.”
Pak has performed more than 200 surgeries with the da Vinci,using the system almost exclusively during the past two years. He said theequipment used in the da Vinci system has been around for a couple decades butonly recently has it been adapted to perform surgery inside a patient’s chest.
Because the surgery is so much less invasive than traditionalmethods, patients’ recovery time is significantly reduced and much lesspainful.
Using the da Vinci, Pak performed surgery on Hora, 61, in September after she was diagnosed with life-threatening Stage 1 lung cancer.
Hora is now at home recovering. She’s cancer-free and doing well,and will not have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
“Honest to goodness, I think it’s just a miracle,” Hora said. “Ihad no complications. … I had three small incisions and something where theymust have just poked me. The (incision) at the base of my neck, if you didn’tknow it was there, you can’t even see it anymore.”
As part of her recovery, Hora is doing breathing exercises andwalking.
Doctors and nurses told her she is way ahead of schedule in herrecovery. She even said she’s breathing better than ever.
And she’s also now a believer in a surgical method that many maytend to be skeptical of.
“I believed,” Hora said. “I had faith in the whole medical team. …Dr. Pak, he exudes confidence. I don’t know if there’s a better doctor on theplanet. That comes from my heart. The guy saved my life and not just saved mylife, he saved my quality of life.”
