Testimonials

Dr. Thomas DayspringAs a doctor for more than 30 years, I've seen firsthand the amazing difference between robotic and open prostate surgery from examining my patients after their procedures. As a robotic surgery patient (diagnosed by Dr Lanteri because of a slightly rising but still very normal PSA test), I can't believe that surgeons can now go in and remove the prostate gland and you don't even know it happened. Fifteen days after my procedure, I flew to Chicago, Detroit and Alabama."

Dr. Thomas Dayspring

DonMy name is Don . I am a 55 year old Physical Education Health teacher. I am a very active person. I play golf, run regularly and just recently completed my second half-marathon. I eat well, never smoked and only drink on occasion. When I had my annual physical my PSA number was high. I was sent to a urologist who recommended a biopsy. The procedure was simple and painless. The biopsy detected cancer. After talking with my urologist I decided to get a second opinion and do some research on my own. I found out about Drs. Lanteri and Esposito and their laparoscopic procedure. I called and was given a half hour consultation. I decided right then to go ahead with this procedure. The main reasons for choosing this procedure was that it is less invasive and has a greater success rate for nerve sparing. Seven days after surgery I was out walking. Seven weeks later I was jogging, lifting weights and doing everything I used to do before surgery.

BruceMy name is Bruce Kern and I am 57. I am married to Marcia for 32 years and we have 2children, Alexis and Jarrett, and we live in Wayne, NJ. I am the Regional Manager for Affiliated Mortgage Protection for Northern New Jersey and New York. We are a niche marketer involved in mortgage protection life insurance. I have been involved with this for the past ten years.

In May 2004, I decided to change my own life insurance policy. Upon, completing my medical exam, I received a call from the senior underwriter at my insurance company and she told that my PSA was 4.01 and she suggested that I go have it checked. I called my personal physician and made an appointment to go see him.

I brought along a copy of my lab results. He compared that report to my last report from May 2003. My PSA had increased from 3.37 to 4.01. He suggested that I go see an urologist and gave me the name of someone in Wayne, NJ. That urologist performed a prostate exam. He said my prostate was slightly enlarged and suggested I do a biopsy. That was performed in early August 2004. I received a call from his office at the end of August 2004 and was told my prostate biopsy was positive for cancer.

I made an appointment to go back to see the doctor to find out my options. He suggested I have the "old fashioned" prostate surgery and I should do it right away. I wanted a second opinion. My wife and I again spoke with my PCP and he suggested I go see Dr. Lanteri for a second opinion, because he had sent another patient to Dr. Lanteri and was very happy with what he told him. My PCP told us that he has a different type of option that I could discuss with him.

Before, I called Dr. Lanteri, I did some research on my own using the internet, spoke to a dear friend, who is very well respected radiologist/oncologist in Miami, Florida and at the same time I saw Dr. Lanteri's ad in New Jersey Magazine. I called Dr. Lanteri's office in mid-September 2004, and told the office manager about my situation and she told me to hold for a minute and "believe it or not" Dr. Lanteri got right on the phone. We spoke for about 15 minutes and I made an appointment to see him the next day.

My wife and I went to see him and brought along all necessary paper work to show him. We discussed all of our alternatives. We all decided that day that I would go ahead with the Robotic Laparoscopic Prostatectomy. We scheduled surgery for January 6, 2005, because he wanted me to lose weight, between 15/25 pounds, and get in even better physical condition, even though I exercised everyday.

I had the surgery on January 6, 2005; I was up walking a few hours after surgery. I went home the next day. Physically, I felt great expect for the catheter, which was removed 6 days later, and had very minimal pain, for which I used Tylenol. I have had full control of my urine from the time the catheter was removed and absolutely no incontinence. In 3 weeks I was back doing my full exercise program. I was playing paddle tennis and of course I returned to work full time. Since, I am a high energy person with my work and life; it took approximately 8 weeks to be 100% with my energy level.

I feel very fortunate to have met Dr. Lanteri and that the da Vinci Robot is available for this type of surgery, because if I had to endure the "old fashion" prostate surgery the recovery time much longer and tedious. Thank God for Dr. Lanteri and the da Vinci Robot.

Bruce M. Kern

I retired at age 67, after working as a Sales Representative for Gibson Greeting Cards for 32 years, to help my son in his automotive repair shop. I am now 74 years of age.

During a September 2004 exam, my primary physician discovered that my PSA went from 3.93 to 5.02 during the past year. He suggested that I go to a Urologist for an examination.

The Urologist did a biopsy of my prostate, which indicated cancer and a Gleason score of 7 (3 + 4). His recommendation was to get a radical prostatectomy, but also suggested other options: Seed Therapy, Radiation, and Cryotherapy. All of these treatments seemed to me to have questionable results.

It so happened, that my son's supervisor at work,was diagnosed with prostate cancer several months before, and was told about Robotic Laparoscopic surgery. He and I talked about this procedure and gave me information about it and Dr. Lanteri's phone number to arrange an appointment. I then contacted Dr. Lanteri's office in Hackensack, NJ. To my surprise, he talked to me on my first call and gave me an appointment for an exam and consultation.

After the exam, he arranged with my primary physician to have the preliminary exams done locally near my home in Pennsylvania. Following these exams, he scheduled my surgery for January 4, 2005.

The procedure at Hackensack University Medical Center was done very efficiently. The surgery was done on January 4, 2005 and took about 3 hours. I spent that night at the hospital recuperating. The following day, everything was normal and I was released on January 5, 2005. The care given at the hospital was superb in all aspects.

I was able to resume most of my normal activities in a few weeks. In about one month, I was able to resume all of my day-to-day chores in addition to helping my son at his automotive repair business.

I would recommend Robotic Laparoscopic surgery by Dr. Lanteri to everyone with prostate cancer because it was less invasive than other procedures and shortened my recuperation time drastically.

I am 75 years old, in good health and of my last conversation with you, was your oldest client for robotic laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. I have been retired for the last 10 years after sharing a partnership in kls associates, a manufacturer's representative company. I served as secretary treasurer and sold sophisticated electronic instruments to industry.

I was diagnosed via biopsy as having prostate cancer in October of 2004. I was made aware of the various options available concerning treatment. In my research of the treatments, I became aware of experience with Drs. Lanteri and Esposito. His positive comments regarding his association with both doctors and his successful surgery and quick recuperation convinced me to meet with Drs. Lanteri and Esposito.

I was most comfortable with electing for surgical removal of the cancerous prostate versus the other treatments. My research of the da Vinci robotic system, the laparoscopic technique and the experience of Drs. Lanteri and Esposito, convinced me I was making the right decision.

My surgery was completed on January 25, 2005. I was released the next day and had the catheter removed on the 6th day. I was driving on the 8th day and was fully recovered in a few weeks. I have returned to my pleasures of fishing and walking 18 holes of golf.

I have been satisfied with dealing with New Jersey Center for Prostate Cancer and Urology (formerly Associated Urology Bergen-Passaic) and pleased with the performance of Drs. Lanteri and Esposito. Having had association with other prostate cancer patients and their lengthy recoveries. I appreciate the speedy recovery I experienced. I'd be pleased to recommend your practice.

I am a 65 year old and semi-retiree. I worked in the telecommunication industry for over 40 years. Currently I am doing some consulting and teaching at William Paterson University.

Over the past five years my PSA gradually increased from 1.0 to 4. I had my PSA and digital rectal exam repeated every year. In early June of 2004 my PSA was 4, and my medical doctor suggested as a precaution that I see a urologist.

I saw Dr. Lanteri who repeated my PSA, the results came back as 3.1, he suggested since I never had a prostate biopsy I should have one now.

On June 23, 2004 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The biopsy uncovered that 3 of 18 samples had indications of cancer, 10% of each sample and a Gleason score of 6. Dr. Lanteri advised me to have a cat-scan and bone scan. Upon reviewing all of my results he advised me my cancer was very curable and he familiarized me with the Laparoscopic Robotic Prostatectomy for the first time. I seriously entertained multiple options such as visiting another hospital, a medical oncologist, and a radiation oncologist. I was advised by these other doctors that surgery would be my best option with a 95% chance to cure my cancer. I even placed a call and spoke with Intuitive Surgical, the company that manufactures the da Vinci robot. I researched the traditional surgery and decided if I were to choose surgery it would definitely be the robotic surgery because there were less side effects and a quicker recovery. With all the information I was given, the decision was up to me.

In early August I called Dr. Lanteri's office and asked them to schedule my date for the Laparoscopic Robotic Prostatectomy. My experience was just phenomenal, I entered the hospital on Friday, September 10, 2004 at 6:30am. I was in the recovery room by 11:30am watching the US open on television. I was discharged from the hospital Saturday, September 11, 2004 (yes, 24 hours later); I had an appointment with Dr. Lanteri five days later for my catheter removal. Eight days later I was at a Giant / Redskin game taking it easy. I started to resume my normal activities two weeks after surgery, which included my first round of golf on October 4, 2004. My post operative recovery was great I only wore a diaper for one day and my erectile function returned about two weeks after surgery. In December 2004, I had my first postoperative PSA and it was 0.

My experience with the entire staff at Dr. Lanteri's office has been wonderful; Dr. Lanteri and Dr. Esposito were very conscientious and attentive.

All in all, this has been a remarkable experience. I am so happy I opted for Dr. Lanteri and Dr. Esposito to perform the Robotic Prostatectomy.

JoeMy name is Joe. I am 62 years old and I live in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey with my wife of 32 years. Our two boys have graduated college and are both living and working in New York City. I have had my own business for thirty years, doing commercial construction and maintaining my own buildings, I also own and operate two Laundromats.

I am very active on a daily basis, basically working out of my car as I travel from site to site. I don't slow down on my time off as ! enjoy boating and spend weekends and summers at the Jersey shore. I have been generally good about regular check-ups over the years. These had always been good, except for an elevated PSA level which showed up about three years ago. Eventually I went for a biopsy. Unfortunately, cancer was discovered in November of 2004.

Several doctors were recommended and I was confused about making the best decision. My oldest son went a step further and began reading and searching the Internet for more information on physicians experienced in the various possible treatments. We even watched several procedures on the computer. Through his search my son came up with the team of Lanteri and Esposito as the most proficient at the procedure. I had opted for Robotic Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy. As it turned out, other doctors I knew and friends who knew of the team concurred with his findings. I was lucky to get an appointment in a month's time.

I felt confident with Drs. Lanteri and Esposito from the first visit. While I was not excited about the idea of surgery, I felt that I was literally in the best hands possible. I was also happy that the procedure would be performed at Hackensack University Medical Center. My surgery was scheduled for February 2005. I followed a prescribed diet to drop down a few pounds to an optimum weight, something I needed to do anyway. Everything was in place when I was thrown a curve. I got food poisoning two days before my scheduled surgery. Besides being sick, I was devastated at the thought that my surgery might have to be pushed up a month because of the tight schedule and my weakened condition.

It was at that point that Dr. Lanteri and Dr. Esposito's staff took over, making phone calls to try to find someone willing to reschedule so valuable time would not be lost. Meanwhile, Dr. Lanteri was on the phone with my wife several times a day to monitor my condition. Through their united efforts my condition improved and surgery was rescheduled for two days later. Amazing!

The operation went as planned from that point. I was only in the hospital overnight. I wore a catheter for five days as I healed, but thanks to the expertise of my doctors I did not suffer incontinence upon the removal of the catheter. Two weeks later I was easing back into my regular routine and looking forward to a healthy and active future.