"I couldn't have picked a better doctor!"

efore I was recommended to Dr. Gray, I had had a previous ruptured colon surgery that eventually developed a hernia. It was getting very large and it could have become a really dangerous situation.

I didn't like the way my hernia looked, my clothes didn't fit and I was pretty much miserable.

I had had the hernia for probably two years, but it was progressively getting larger. The bigger it grew the more concerned I became. I got really self conscious - I was not happy with the way it looked and very concerned about the potential medical conditions that could have arisen if I had left this unaddressed. If I did nothing it could strangulate the intestines which could be life threatening. That was something I certainly wanted to avoid!

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That’s when I knew it was time to make a change.

I was recommended to Dr. Paul Gray from a very prestigious colon and rectal surgeon here in Fort Worth, Dr. Lori Gordon. She recommended I get it looked at by a specialist to avoid dangerous complications like a strangulated colon.

It was something that I had put off, but that I eventually addressed and I am grateful to this day that I had it done.

The day of the procedure came and I was nervous. But I shouldn’t have been!

Dr. Gray was professional and caring and he listens. He explained the whole thing to me. He's got a great sense of humor and excellent bedside manner.

The procedure that I had was minimally invasive, meaning they did a robotic assisted incisional hernia repair using a DaVinci robot that Dr. Gray controlled at a console. The robotic arms were inside of me through laparoscopic incisions and Dr. Gray controlled the robot’s movements. That basically means there are no large cuts like in a normal surgery situation, just several little ones, so you heal much much faster.

The surgery took about three hours but the robot and Dr. Gray performed a great job and the process of getting back on my feet was nothing at all.

Visually the hernia was gone. They didn't remove it - hernias aren't removed, they're just repaired. He put mesh inside my abdominal cavity to repair the hernia and I've never had an issue with the mesh. I was actually up and walking before I left the hospital. Then I came home and rested. But I was walking around the day after surgery in the hospital and I didn't stay but one day after the procedure, which I thought was pretty amazing.

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I was walking around and doing my normal thing two days after surgery. I was shocked!

I do not have any complaints at all about the procedure. The nurses, his staff, the rehabilitation - it was really an amazing deal, especially having a robot involved, which is state of the art and he's an expert at that.

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My life has changed dramatically.

Now I don't have the huge bulge that I had in my abdomen. I can wear the clothes that I used to wear. I don't have to worry about the potential medical issues that would have been or could have been. My mind is at ease now.

I had my apprehensions at first but after talking to Dr. Gray, he put me at ease. There was no doubt in my mind, I was going to do it. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made. And I'm 65.

Of course there's risks involved with any surgery, but I suffered no complications at all. And I'm really happy that this took place. Things would be a lot different and my mindset would be a lot different, I'd be worrying all the time if I hadn't had this done.

I'm grateful and will always be indebted to Dr. Gray. I couldn't have picked a better doctor.

He visited often in the hospital and he was actually gracious enough to talk to me several times since the surgery on the phone, due to the COVID-19 situation and not being able to go into the hospital.

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If anybody were to ask me, I'd say Dr. Paul Gray is the man!

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- Keith M., Fort Worth TX, age 65