John,
I had open surgery. I asked my surgeon about it and he recommended open. If your surgeon has done tons of these with the robot then by all means do it that way. If not, do it the way your surgeon is most comfortable. A little longer recovery time is better than a surgery that doesn't go as well.
Keep in mind that my surgery was three years ago. My surgeon felt the jury was still out on the da Vinci robot for this particular surgery. Some hospitals put pressure on doctors to use it because it is a huge investment. At the same time, it is the latest technology and is less intrusive/invasive/traumatic on the body. The real key is how much experience does your particular surgeon have with using it.
Don't wait until you are "thru all this" to be posting. We want to know how you are recovering, if you are walking like we told you, etc. Get somebody to login and keep us informed on your recovery. We will all be cheering for you. I was going to say rooting for you but I know all the Australians would start giggling to themselves as they have a different meaning for the word.
(Those crazy Aussies!)
Mike