Department News
Dr. John Hairston Seen on "Someone You Should Know" Segment on CBS
Faced with a severe bladder condition preventing him from realizing his dream as a pilot, Chicagoland native Andrew Banieki, turned to Dr. John Hairston in the Northwestern Department of Urology for a solution. Dr. Hairston had pioneered a robotic procedure to eliminate the medication used to treat the condition which would allow Banieki to take his place in the cockpit.
“He was at the upper limit of the medications that required to control his bladder that the FAA would allow. Really, the options had become very limited,” Dr. Hairston says.
Banieki suffered from myelomeningocele, commonly known as spina bifida, a birth defect in which the bones of the spine fail to form properly and can lead to severe nerve damage. Daily medication helped keep the congenital disease at bay, but after two surgeries Banieki still struggled with bladder problems which were hindering his ability to become a pilot.
Banieki's doctor at Children's Memorial Hospital referred him to Dr. Hairston who is just one of only several doctors in the country who perform a special type of surgery called robotic bladder augmentation.
“When Andrew and his family came to see me, they were anxious to help him get to a point where he could live more comfortably and pursue his dreams,” says Dr. Hairston, who is a pilot himself.
Bladder augmentation is a procedure that is designed to increase the capacity of the bladder reservoir by widening the wall of the bladder. Tissue grafts from the small intestine or stomach are used to rebuild the wall. Although the procedure has been performed since the 1980's, it was typically done with an open abdominal incision. Dr. Hairston and his colleagues have developed a safer, more effective method of bladder augmentation surgery using the DaVinciTM robot. With the DaVinciTM robot, only a few tiny incisions are made which can be covered up by small band aids, allowing for such benefits as shorter hospital stay, fewer complications, and quicker recovery time.
Successful surgery was completed on Banieki in 2010 and he no longer needs medication. Just months later, Banieki took to the sky on his 18th birthday, flying a training plane for the first time.
Now 19, Banieki is on his way to becoming a pilot at Lewis University's flight school and is optimistic for the future.
“Now here I am, free to do what I want, and now you focus on your career, and you go right at it head on,” says Banieki, who never gave up hope on his dream.
Dr. Hairston is just glad he could contribute.
“That’s the great part of his story,” Hairston says. “He’s going to be able to achieve his lifelong dream, and I was able to at least help him along the way.”
The story was featured on a CBS Chicago news broadcast for the "Someone You Should Know" segment on June 17, 2011 and the full article can be found here.
