It's a milestone for a Lake City woman and an area hospital.  A revolutionary robotic option for hysterectomies was introduced here in November of 2010.

This out of the ordinary surgery, signifies a big change in the lives of ordinary patients.

Robotic Surgery Patient Gayathri Shaw "I had heard probably in the back of my mind that it wasn't normal, but I just never did anything about it."

Life became anything but normal for 43 year old Gayathri Shaw when she started having irregular bleeding.

Shaw said, "And then when it just kept getting worse and worse, I jumped on the internet and I looked it up and it said if you ever have any bleeding, call your doctor!"

This was a wake up call for Shaw, who soon found out she would need to have her uterus removed.

According to the US Department of Health 1 in 3 American women will have a hysterectomy before the age of 60.  Traditionally the surgery requires a large incision and 6 to 8 weeks of recovery.

Dr. Tony Agrios is a gynecologist with North Florida.  He said, "Most women after this operation are off any type of pain killers within a few days and they're back to work in 2 to 3 weeks typically."

Agrios used the "da Vinci surgical robot" on Shaw, going in through just one incision in her belly button.  Although Agrios works from a surgeon's console, he says the process is anything but distant.

He said, "In robotic surgery it feels like I have my hands in there and my hands are doing the work."

Agrios has used the da Vinci for years, but new advancements in the robotic arms have made taken minimally invasive hysterectomies to the next level.  Many believe one incision surgeries are the wave of the future.

Agrios said, "I think we're gonna see a big change over to single site surgeries for all sorts of operations."

For Gayathri, the surgery means a return to the life she enjoyed before her condition, with just a tiny scar on her belly button.

Shaw said, "And so three weeks later, I'm almost normal I would say."

For more information on minimally invasive surgeries visit http://www.nfrmc.com/our-services/robotic-surgery/