Reprinted from Good Housekeeping, Redbook and Woman’s Day
Training, experience, and compassion matter when choosing a doctor for sensitive urological care. Dr. Thomas B. Edmunds of Capitol Urology has performed more than 3,200 advanced surgeries and specializes in minimally invasive procedures such as robotic-assisted prostatectomy. He brings a unique combination of skills to the operating table: “It may not sound important, but I play guitar and piano in a professional band, have been involved in athletics, and have played video games since I was five,” he says. “Those activities have complemented my extensive training in surgery and oncology by further developing the hand-eye coordination necessary for using advanced image-based technologies.”
Personalized Care
Dr. Edmunds’s care goes beyond standard protocol: “I treat patients how I would want to be treated—like family. Sometimes that means giving them my cell phone number. I’m in the top one percent of prostatectomy surgeons in terms of surgeries performed, but I limit the number of patients I see in a day so I can meet with them longer.” Losing a friend to cancer recently reawakened Dr. Edmunds to “the gifts of life,” he says, and bolstered his passion for using his surgical skills to treat urological conditions such as prostate cancer. Despite controversy over prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing to detect cancer, Dr. Edmunds emphasizes that “prostate cancer is very curable if found early, especially in African American men, who are at above-average risk.”
Precise Procedures
Dr. Edmunds often performs prostate surgery using the da Vinci® Surgical System, which uses high-definition imagery and robotics to nimbly navigate the nerve-packed area around the prostate. “Many men return to normal activity in two weeks, compared to six weeks after traditional open surgery,” Dr. Edmunds says. No-scalpel vasectomies usually take about ten minutes and are performed with local anesthesia. “Patients generally experience no side effects when the procedure is done properly, so it’s important to choose a doctor who has performed a lot of them,” Dr. Edmunds advises. Kidney stones—which affect both men and women—can be treated using sound waves or lasers, depending on the stone’s size and location. “My goal is to provide comprehensive care using the best modalities,” Dr. Edmunds says. “Competency and compassion go hand in hand.”