One slip in the OR changed my family forever

“She’s not going to make it.”

That’s the first thing I heard from my dad when I picked up the phone.

Only after the words sank in do I remember where I was — standing in my bedroom in Florida, thousands of miles away from the operating room in New York.

The words landed like a physical blow. I yelled at my dad, refusing to believe him, clinging to the idea there had to be some mistake.

When I hung up, grief exploded into anger.

I punched holes in the walls of my bedroom and bathroom, because I couldn’t accept what had just happened.

My aunt had gone into what was supposed to be a complex operation, one of the most demanding procedures surgeons perform. Her surgeon was considered among the very best in the world and, after decades of performing this operation, had never once lost a patient.

Less than 24 hours later, we got the news that she didn’t make it.

To this day, I don’t know if the surgeon did everything right, or if one small mistake changed the course of everything.

That uncertainty is its own kind of wound.

You’re left with questions that no one can answer, and a deep desire for a world where fewer families ever have to feel what mine felt that day.

That’s why I’ve always been drawn to the promise of robotic-assisted surgery.

Machines aren’t perfect, but people carry limits that can’t be ignored.

Surgeons get tired. Hands tremble. Fatigue sets in during long operations. Even the best in the world can have blind spots.

And in medicine, the smallest slip can change everything.

The Limits of Human Hands

In the United States alone, the shortage of surgeons is turning into a full-blown crisis.

By 2036, as many as 19,000 operating rooms could stand without a skilled hand.

And when that happens, it means longer waits, delayed care, and more funerals that didn’t need to happen.

One study of more than 400,000 patients found that people operated on right before weekends faced higher rates of death and complications, a sign of how stretched teams already are.

At the same time, the demand for surgeries is exploding.

Globally, around 310 million surgical procedures are performed each year.

In the U.S. alone, it’s about 64 million. And behind every one of those numbers is a patient who needs the outcome to go right the first time.

The pressure on human surgeons is immense. Longer hours. More patients. Higher stakes. And when you combine shortage with stress, error becomes inevitable.

That’s the problem.

A Different Kind of Scalpel

Now here’s the solution taking shape: robotic-assisted surgery.

It’s not science fiction. It’s already here.

And it’s proving to be faster, safer, and in many cases, it’s simply better.

One massive study across 108 clinical trials and 14,000 patients found that robotic surgery cut blood loss in half, reduced transfusion needs by 75%, shortened hospital stays by 30%, and lowered complication rates by more than a third.

Imagine the difference those percentages mean in human lives.

That’s thousands of people leaving the hospital healthier, faster, and with fewer physical and emotional scars.

Robotics brings precision that humans can’t always match.

They allow minimally invasive procedures, meaning smaller incisions and less trauma.

They don’t get tired mid-operation. They don’t shake. They translate a surgeon’s movements into micro-precision.

And the world is waking up to it.

Robotic surgeries are expected to grow from 1.6 million in 2020 to 6.2 million annually by 2030.

That’s a fourfold increase in a single decade.

Some of The Companies We’re Watching

While my team and I analyze the company - or companies - we’d like to add to our winning portfolio, I decided to share with you some of the ones we’re looking at.

It’s a glimpse into the people and machines shaping the operating rooms of tomorrow.

First, you have Intuitive Surgical, whose da Vinci system has become almost mythical among surgeons, with more than 10,000 units installed worldwide, handling over 12 million procedures to date.

Every day, roughly 8,000 surgeries are performed with a da Vinci, a pace that shows how deeply these robots are already woven into modern medicine.

Then there’s Medtronic, unveiling its Hugo RAS system. Surgeons crowd around, curious to test its reach. Hospital boards hesitate, knowing the cost but also knowing delay could mean more complications on their watch.

And in the audience, families see more than technology. They see the possibility that the next time someone they love goes under the knife, the odds might tilt in their favor. The hum of its robotic arms carries that weight.

Then there’s Stryker, whose Mako SmartRobotics has quietly crossed the two‑million‑procedure mark in orthopedics, rewriting how hips, knees, and spines are rebuilt.

These aren’t just companies.

They are leaders of a future where surgery is steadier, safer, and less bound by human limits. And together they are racing toward a prize far bigger than market share: the chance to redefine what survival looks like.

The Next Question

Here’s the hard truth: even though robots improve outcomes, access isn’t equal.

Most surgeries worldwide are still performed the traditional way. Many hospitals can’t afford these systems or train staff to use them. Which means precision is available to some, but not to all.

That’s the unfinished story and it’s the one that should keep us awake at night.

Because what good is a miracle scalpel if only a fraction of humanity can reach it? What happens to the family in a small town, or the patient half a world away, when the very best tools are locked behind geography and cost?

What happens when you or your loved one needs the expert who’s nowhere near you?

My aunt had to travel from Florida to New York for her operation. While it wasn’t on the other side of the planet, could the outcome have been different if she hadn’t been forced to travel so far to reach the expert?

We’ll never know. But it makes me wonder what it would mean if world‑class skill could reach the patient instead of the other way around.

On Wednesday, I’ll take you deeper.

Because the next leap in this field isn’t just about making surgery more precise.

It’s about erasing borders.

Imagine a future where the most skilled surgeon alive doesn’t have to be in your city or even your country to save your life.

A future where the expert travels to you, where you need them and exactly at the time you need them, and… at the speed of light.

That’s the frontier we’re heading toward.

See you on Wednesday,

Double D

P.S. My team and I will soon release our most high-conviction recommendations in this space but… it’s for Premium Members only. You can join below if you want.

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