Kim Poulette, 45, traveled 13 hours from a rural Missouri town all the way to Royal Oak this past February.

Why? To get the robotic DIEP flap procedure done by microvascular reconstructive surgeon Jesse Selber, M.D. Dr. Selber, vice president, service line strategy and growth, Corewell Health East, pioneered and championed the robotic DIEP flap procedure, a breast reconstruction technique that uses a robot to harvest fat tissue from the lower abdomen for transplant.

“When you can do something better by adding a new tool, it’s exciting to develop that process,” Dr. Selber said during an interview with news outlet WDIV. “But really, ultimately, this is about it being better for patients.”

Dr. Selber is one of the few surgeons in the world to perform the DIEP flap robotically and the only one doing it here in Michigan.

Some of the key advantages of this procedure include:

• Cutting recovery time in half

• Significantly reducing the intensity of postoperative pain

• Reducing the use of fentanyl and length of hospital stay
  

Kim has survived an intense battle with inflammatory stage IIIC breast cancer. Because of her diagnosis, she was not a candidate for implants, and they didn’t offer the robotic DIEP flap option where she had her mastectomy.

Her main motivation for the procedure wasn’t cosmetic, but instead to relieve the constant shoulder pain she was having due to her radiation burns that pulled her skin forward and allowed for little range of motion.

“I missed enough work, and I have a kindergartener at home,” Kim said. “So I sought out the robotic option because I knew it would cut my recovery time in half. I’ve been through enough and wanted to get back to ‘normal’ as soon as possible.”

Upon waking up from the DIEP procedure, she said she felt immediate relief in her shoulder. And just two-and-a-half weeks after her surgery, Kim was able to make the long drive home (with several stops) and was taking nothing for the pain. She was back to work in no time and has a new appreciation for life.

“My first grandbaby was born right before I came out to have this surgery,” she told WDIV. “It’s not lost on me that these are the moments that I would have missed. You know, it keeps everything in perspective, that every day is a gift.”