I'm Hans Pranata, 32 years old from Bandung, Indonesia. I am married and have a 5-year-old daughter, and I run my own business in Bandung.

I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2021. I would never have expected that it would happen to me, as I’m a fit young man. I exercised 6 days a week and ate “almost” healthy daily except for drinking and smoking.

It started with a little hardness in my right testis, and the diagnosis of cancer was confirmed after a few tests and imaging were done. Without further delay, I had the orchidectomy surgery with my urologist in Bandung. However, the cancer metastasised to the lymph nodes in the aorto-caval area, thus I had chemotherapy after surgery. The cancer was kept under control eventually and was progression-free, but my oncologist informed me that I needed another surgery to remove the enlarged lymph nodes, called retroperitoneum lymph node dissection (RPLND).

RPLND is a major surgery, I was told, which requires a big midline incision along the entire abdomen. The surgery is long and usually will be offered in tertiary centres as this disease is rare and technically challenging. I was not keen to have open surgery due to the long recovery period, pain and potential risk of infection and transfusion.

I started to explore other surgical options for RPLND. I read about robotics and did some research. This is a minimally invasive surgery assisted by a surgical robot. The surgery is done via a few small incisions, 8 mm-12 mm, with a tiny camera and a few instruments attached to the robot. However, the surgery is performed by a surgeon who controls the surgical robot. The surgeon can now see more clearly with 3D high-definition vision and can also perform better surgery with a human wrist-like instrument that is flexible to manoeuvre in different angles and directions, as well as enhance surgical precision with hand tremor filtration.

My elder brother, who is a doctor, also supported my decision to go for robotic surgery. Dr Badrulhisham was introduced to me by Sing Medi in Bandung. He is a robotic-trained urologist at Sunway Medical Centre, Malaysia. Honestly speaking, I never heard of this hospital, but I gave it a try since they offer robotic surgery. I had my first teleconsultation with Dr Badrulhisham, who is a very professional and nice person. I was impressed with his knowledge of the disease and decided to pursue robotic PRLND.

I arrived at Sunway Medical Centre in January 2022. It is a well-established, huge and clean hospital and looked like a mall or hotel to me. The International Patient Care (IPC) team was very friendly, and they helped facilitate my logistics, lodgings for quarantine, insurance application and surgery arrangements. Everything was well-informed and went smoothly. I had my surgery on 28 January 2022. It went longer than expected, but it went well and was uneventful. I have had an amazing recovery and was just hospitalized for 2 days before being discharged. I wouldn’t have had a speedy recovery without the scrumptious hospital food too. It was so delicious and the best that I ever had.

I’m recovering well. I have quit smoking now and am trying to pursue a healthier lifestyle. I have never regretted having robotic surgery at Sunway Medical Centre under the good care of Dr Badrulhisham. My heartfelt gratitude to my family, who always had my back and provided endless support, and to the healthcare team of Sunway Medical Centre for their professionalism and excellent patient care. Last but not least, to Dr Badrulhisham, I wouldn’t have made it without him. THANK YOU!