From Pain to Possibility: A Family’s Journey with Surgical Innovation
For the Heide family, stomach cancer is more than a chance occurrence – it’s a genetic reality. CDH1 is a genetic mutation that causes a rare form of cellular diffuse cancer, and both Summer and her daughter, Mikka, have the gene.
In 2015, after losing beloved family members to the disease, Summer made the difficult decision to have preventative surgery to remove her entire stomach. The invasive surgery left her with a scar from her diaphragm to her belly button, and her recovery stretched over 12 painful months.
So, when Mikka was diagnosed with stomach cancer at age 15, Summer braced herself for her daughter to endure the same painful process. But this time, there was something new: the da Vinci Surgical Robot at St. Paul’s Hospital.
In January 2025, Mikka underwent a gastrectomy at St. Paul’s Hospital to remove her stomach and part of her esophagus. A collaborative effort by surgeons Dr. Kristopher Milbrandt from Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital and Dr. Richard Bigsby from St. Paul’s, as well as their exceptional teams, led the complex procedure with unmatched precision using the surgical robot, leaving Mikka with only eight tiny incisions and no trace of the cancer. The difference was remarkable. Just two weeks after surgery, Mikka was able to attend a friend’s birthday party, which would have been an unimaginable milestone for Summer, whose own recovery had been long and grueling.
“Seeing the difference in her recovery and the pain she didn’t have to deal with…we’re extremely lucky to have this technology in Saskatchewan,” says Summer.
Mikka’s surgery is the first major pediatric robotic surgery in Saskatchewan. This pioneering moment in our province’s healthcare was possible because of the da Vinci Surgical Robot, acquired by St. Paul’s Hospital in 2022 through the incredible generosity of donors to St. Paul’s Hospital & Foundation with shared investment from the Ministry of Health. The first of its kind in the province, the Robot initiated the Provincial Surgical Robotics Program and led St. Paul’s to develop one of North America’s premier surgical robotics programs. But for Mikka, it means being able to focus on the lifelong adjustments of living without a stomach, rather than being consumed by the physical pain of recovery.
Though their paths have been very different, both mother and daughter share a resilience shaped by their diagnosis, and gratitude for the innovation that gave Mikka a gentler road forward.
As Summer reflects, “We’re definitely grateful and very thankful for donors who are helping provide things like this in our province.”
Thanks to the generosity of our community, the surgical robotics program at St. Paul’s Hospital isn’t just advancing medicine – it’s transforming lives, offering hope and ensuring Saskatchewan patients have access to the best possible care.
