“The inpatient team even showed me how I could dance with Savanna by holding elbows and swaying,” he recalls. “Everyone played a role in helping me get to that wedding.”
Albert Intili was getting ready for bed one evening when he experienced some unusual bathroom-related symptoms, including an urge to go and a vacuum-like sensation when he couldn’t. The 57-year-old Hillsborough resident stood up, became extremely dizzy and passed out in a nearby lounge chair.
Late that night, he woke up in excruciating pain. His wife, Bridget, called 9-1-1, and an EMS team rushed him to RWJUH Somerset’s Emergency Department.
Repairing a Severe Bowel Perforation
At the hospital, surgeon Sarah Bryczkowski, MD, knew immediately that Albert needed emergency surgery. A CT scan showed severe perforated diverticulitis, meaning a small pouch in his colon wall had ruptured and was leaking bowel contents into his abdominal cavity, causing life-threatening sepsis. She initially anticipated performing an open surgery based on several parameters, but Albert had one thing on his mind: he desperately wanted to be at his daughter’s wedding two weeks later.
“An open surgery would likely have doubled his recovery time, and we were able to quickly get the additional staff in place during the night to pivot to minimally invasive robotic surgery,” explains Dr. Bryczkowski, who used the da Vinci Surgical System to remove the damaged piece of colon, create a temporary colostomy and clear the bowel contents from his abdomen.
“Dr. Sarah explained everything, and I put my trust in her,” says Albert. “She said she would be the first person I’d see after surgery, and when I opened my eyes, there she was. She spent time with me every day after that.”
Albert experienced an abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation following surgery, but once that was resolved, he focused on regaining his strength through inpatient and home-based physical therapy.
“The inpatient team even showed me how I could dance with Savanna by holding elbows and swaying,” he recalls. “Everyone played a role in helping me get to that wedding.”
A Wedding to Remember
When the big day came, Albert went down the aisle in a wheelchair. But that didn’t stop him from embracing his role in the father-daughter dance.
“I forgot the holding elbows advice – all I knew was that I was dancing with my daughter on her wedding day, and it was beautiful,” he says. “It felt like my mother, also named Sara, was looking down on us from heaven and smiling. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Dr. Sarah and the team made that possible.”
Additional Surgical Care
Albert has since had two more successful robotic surgeries with Dr. Bryczkowski: one to reverse the colostomy, and one to repair an old hernia that resurfaced.
Since his initial surgery, RWJUH Somerset has added a third robot to meet the increased need for robotic surgery – becoming the first RWJBarnabas Health hospital to implement the latest da Vinci 5 version. The surgical team is fully trained, and robotic surgery is available around the clock.
“To have 24/7 robotic surgery access at a community hospital is pretty unique,” says Dr. Bryczkowski. “In addition to patient benefits like smaller incisions and a quicker recovery, the ergonomics enable surgeons to perform procedures more comfortably with the highest precision.”
Albert is extremely grateful that Dr. Bryczkowski came into his life at the exact moment he needed her.
“She saved my life, and I can’t thank her enough,” he says. “She’s now a part of my family, and she’ll be in my heart forever.”