MARIETTA - Joseph Boyd, 61, of Powder Springs, calls his entire experience with intestinal and liver tumors, from detection to their removal through laparoscopic surgery, "miraculous."

Boyd, a retired automobile painter, said he went to Dr. Richard Breckwoldt in Hiram for his annual physical last August, but Breckwoldt felt something unusual in the area of his liver.

An MRI ultimately determined there was a small tumor, and he was referred to Sahir Shroff, a surgical oncologist with Summit Surgical Specialists in Marietta who also practices in the WellStar Health System.

"Dr. Shroff was not very happy because he thought something, probably in the intestines, had to be the cause of the tumor, but the tests weren't showing that. But he just kept saying, it has to be something," Boyd said.

On Dec. 16, Shroff, aided by fellow Summit surgical oncologist Chris Anderson, removed Boyd's tumor during a laparoscopic surgery.

Laparoscopic surgery is less invasive than traditional surgery, and involves surgeons operating remotely through three small tubes placed in the body: one for a camera that transmits the image to a television screen watched by the doctors; another for the surgical instruments; and the third for an ultrasound.

All or a portion of the organ is then removed through a hairline incision.

"You have to completely rely on vision, because you are using cameras and tools and are not looking at the open body," Shroff said. "You have to be an expert in a lot of different areas - anatomy, surgery, technological operations - to successfully perform the surgery."

Although just about any surgery can be done laparoscopically, only a handful of medical centers in the United States use it for liver surgery.

"Liver surgery traditionally has been associated with high risk for the risk of intraoperative bleeding, hence the adoption for doing liver surgery with a laparoscope has been slow," Shroff said.

In metro Atlanta, only Emory and WellStar Health Systems offer laparoscopic surgery for liver operations. Within WellStar, Shroff is the only surgeon who can perform the high-tech liver surgery, though he also does the traditional operation.

"Not everyone is eligible for a laparoscopic surgery. We work as a team to figure out the best way to treat someone, and you have to consider how big the tumor is, where it is located, how it can be accessed, and various other factors. It also costs more than traditional surgery, but the fact that the recovery time is shorter and there is less time spent in the hospital means the benefits outweigh the cost," Shroff said.

One factor that makes it work at WellStar, Shroff said, is the system's robust GI oncology program, where all patients with liver and pancreatic cancer are discussed in a multidisciplinary tumor board.

"This is where the surgeons, the gastroenterologist, the medical oncologist, radiologists, pathologist and radiation oncologists discuss the patients, review the scans, review the pathology and make treatment reccommendations based on their unique knowledge in their respective fields," Shroff said. "This enables the patient to get access to the latest and greatest from each respective field as a treatment plan is formulated."

In Boyd's case, the small tumor was removed from his liver, but Shroff also found two small tumors on his intestines and removed those as well. Shroff also removed Boyd's appendix, possibly saving him a future surgery.

Boyd said he was surprised when he was moved out of intensive care the next day, and could move around with little trouble.

"I sat up, no problem, and walked over to the wheelchair and felt a little tired but really not any pain. The nurses even said they were surprised because normally they have trouble just getting people to sit up," Boyd said.

Anderson, the other surgeon, checked on him a few days later, Boyd said.

"He said even he was amazed that Dr. Shroff found the tumors as small as they were, but that there were a lot of people looking around in me," Boyd said with a laugh. The tumors all turned out benign, he said.

"From start to finish, the whole thing was amazing," Boyd said. "I'm still amazed."