Kidney robotic surgery to remove cyst. Why would it take 3 hours?

[clb998]

I recently passed a kidney stone.  During this process they discovered on the x ray that I had a 2.5" cyst.  the MRI says there's a 50/50 chance it's malignant/benign.  They want to do robotic surgery to remove it.  You'd think with robotic surgery I shouldn't feel as bad and recover faster.  So I scheduled the procedure.  Now I'm hearing that it's 2-4 weeks to recover and that long before I can drive again.  Also the dr says yes there'll be pain, but it's ok cause you'll get pain meds.  Today when I called and asked how long does the procedure take, they said 3 hours and then 1 to 1 1/2 recover, then you stay overnight.  3 hour surgery!  I don't think my husband's hip surgery took that long.  I'm beginning to wonder about this. have any of you had this procedure done?  Is this the normal amount of time? Does it take longer because it's robotic?  I'm starting to chicken out here.  Any comment would be appreciated.