Steve had robot-assisted surgery in 2025. Now he’s passionate about raising awareness and changing people’s idea of robotic procedures:
After visiting his GP with a “niggle in the bottom of his back”, Steve was sent for scans and a colonoscopy that showed there was a large tumour in his bowel. He was fast‑tracked to N&N colorectal consultant surgeon Professor Irshad Shaikh, who explained the need for major surgery and that he would wake up with a permanent stoma. Steve says:
“There was no other option. But he explained everything clearly. I didn’t need to know the ins and outs, I just said put me to sleep and I’ll deal with it when I wake up.”
People imagine something scary. The reality is completely different – I’ve benefitted massively.
Steve
The operation was carried out with robotic assistance. The robotic instruments require smaller incisions than a surgeon’s hands would need, and the camera view gives the surgeon a 10x magnified view, allowing them to operate very precisely. This means patients have lower blood loss or risk of infection, so they can recover faster.
“I’ve got tiny little dots – you can hardly see anything. No big scar. I was up and out of bed within two days. It’s amazing.”
Steve went home after just six days and continued his recovery at home and returned to his job – a fleet manager for First Home Improvements. Even now that he’s undergoing intensive chemotherapy, he’s determined to stay active.
“I was at work at half six this morning – you can’t sleep, so you may as well get on with it.”
Our robotic surgery appeal is now close to funding its third and final surgical robot for the N&N, to give more patients access to life‑changing procedures like Steve’s. After experiencing robot-assisted surgery for himself, he’s backing our appeal all the way:
We’re so lucky to have this in Norfolk. If we can help more people get treated this way, we should. The surgery is quite simply changing lives.
Steve