Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases 11 (2015) 284–285
Editorial
A Tribute to Dr. Edward E. Mason, M.D. When I was recruited to Iowa from Mississippi in 1985, my appointment was Director of Gastrointestinal Surgery. My interest in bariatric surgery was secondary to my research and clinical interests in esophageal surgery. However, exposure to Dr. Edward E. Mason had a great influence on me, and soon, bariatric surgery became an integral part of my activities. I thank Ed for helping to make care of obese patients such an incredibly rewarding part of my career. Dr. Mason is a very quiet and unaffected man. I don’t think Ed would yell if someone lit him on fire. I was at Iowa for at least 6 months before I realized he was chair of General Surgery (and therefore my direct supervisor). Dr. Mason led by his example. This was a great model for me. At that time, I was already doing Vertical Banded Gastroplasties (VBG’s) (self-taught) but I thought I should see if the inventor could teach me more, so I scrubbed with Ed on some cases. What he taught me was the power of measurement. It became apparent to me from watching Ed that you couldn’t judge pouch size just by looking at it. Further, he had developed a simple, but ingenious way of measuring pouch volume exactly. You couldn’t see the posterior wall of the stomach so a pouch you thought was 10 cc might actually be 35-50 cc. I’d estimate that we reduced the volume in approximately 40% of VBGs. This was a great lesson to me and I’d commend it to you. I still believe this explains why Dr. Mason’s results with VBG were so much better than anyone else’s. Another lesson Ed taught by example was the way he involved private practice bariatric surgeons in the American Society of Bariatric Surgery (ASBS). Probably the best example is Dr. Cornelius Doherty, who came to the University of Iowa as a colleague after many years in San Francisco as a general surgeon. Con became perhaps the world’s oldest Assistant Professor and a great friend. Con’s friendship with Dr. Kuzmak was responsible for our involvement in the early development of the LapBands in this country. Ed’s early recognition and appreciation of the many pioneering contributions from private practice surgeons was another great lesson for me.
I’ve often wondered how Dr. Mason got interested in the problems of fat people. He obviously has no weight problem himself. I received an insight early on in my time at Iowa. When we first came to Iowa City, we invited Ed and his wife, Dordana, to a Friday afternoon picnic at City Park with my family. My wife had brought bratwurst to grill, while Dordana brought “turkey burgers.” Now, turkey burgers are nothing unusual in 2015, but in 1985 in Iowa, of all places, this was an insult to the noble pig. We offered Ed a brat, which he promptly accepted. Dordana kept asking Ed wouldn’t he like a “nice turkey burger”? Ed ate the brats. On another occasion, we had invited our new vascular surgeon and his family to our house for Thanksgiving dinner and also invited Ed and Dordana, so that the new surgeon could meet them. Dordana “persuaded” us to keep the food in the kitchen so that anyone who wanted seconds would have to get up from the dinner table and go to the kitchen to serve themselves. I’ve often thought that, if we could clone Dordana, there would be no need for bariatric surgery. Finally, a word about the ASBS meetings in Iowa City. For the most part, these were homey, almost county-fair like events, on the banks of the Iowa River. I remember one where my wife was enticed by the prospect of winning an ASBS T-shirt to play one of the games, lawn darts. This was an incredibly ill-conceived game where the participants throw what are essentially short javelins with stabilizing wings, at a target. If you’re dumb enough to walk near the target during a match, impalement might occur. The last one of these events, before the organization got too big for Iowa City, was an event that I, even now, don’t know how it was allowed to happen. The University had an incredibly talented French chef who got carried away and conceived a Provinces of France event where the food, cheeses, beer and wine of the various areas of France were featured at food tents along the Iowa River. This was a fantastic event which still ranks among the best parties I’ve ever attended. The cost was rumored to be over 25 thousand dollars, all which was paid for by equipment vendors. This was an unheard of amount of money in 1993. The event apparently triggered a major scandal at the University,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2014.12.023 1550-7289/Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Editorial / Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases 11 (2015) 284–285
especially among those in the Fine Arts who weren’t invited. Ed just kept quiet and the furor eventually died down. This was another good lesson for us all. I’ve been gone from Iowa City for over 10 years now. Nevertheless, my memories of Iowa City are very sweet ones. Ed has taught me a tremendous amount and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been associated with a man whose quiet leadership spawned an entire branch of surgery.
285
Ed and Dordana, many thanks to you both. James W. Maher, M.D. Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA
Editorial
A Tribute to Dr. Edward E. Mason, M.D. When I was recruited to Iowa from Mississippi in 1985, my appointment was Director of Gastrointestinal Surgery. My interest in bariatric surgery was secondary to my research and clinical interests in esophageal surgery. However, exposure to Dr. Edward E. Mason had a great influence on me, and soon, bariatric surgery became an integral part of my activities. I thank Ed for helping to make care of obese patients such an incredibly rewarding part of my career. Dr. Mason is a very quiet and unaffected man. I don’t think Ed would yell if someone lit him on fire. I was at Iowa for at least 6 months before I realized he was chair of General Surgery (and therefore my direct supervisor). Dr. Mason led by his example. This was a great model for me. At that time, I was already doing Vertical Banded Gastroplasties (VBG’s) (self-taught) but I thought I should see if the inventor could teach me more, so I scrubbed with Ed on some cases. What he taught me was the power of measurement. It became apparent to me from watching Ed that you couldn’t judge pouch size just by looking at it. Further, he had developed a simple, but ingenious way of measuring pouch volume exactly. You couldn’t see the posterior wall of the stomach so a pouch you thought was 10 cc might actually be 35-50 cc. I’d estimate that we reduced the volume in approximately 40% of VBGs. This was a great lesson to me and I’d commend it to you. I still believe this explains why Dr. Mason’s results with VBG were so much better than anyone else’s. Another lesson Ed taught by example was the way he involved private practice bariatric surgeons in the American Society of Bariatric Surgery (ASBS). Probably the best example is Dr. Cornelius Doherty, who came to the University of Iowa as a colleague after many years in San Francisco as a general surgeon. Con became perhaps the world’s oldest Assistant Professor and a great friend. Con’s friendship with Dr. Kuzmak was responsible for our involvement in the early development of the LapBands in this country. Ed’s early recognition and appreciation of the many pioneering contributions from private practice surgeons was another great lesson for me.
I’ve often wondered how Dr. Mason got interested in the problems of fat people. He obviously has no weight problem himself. I received an insight early on in my time at Iowa. When we first came to Iowa City, we invited Ed and his wife, Dordana, to a Friday afternoon picnic at City Park with my family. My wife had brought bratwurst to grill, while Dordana brought “turkey burgers.” Now, turkey burgers are nothing unusual in 2015, but in 1985 in Iowa, of all places, this was an insult to the noble pig. We offered Ed a brat, which he promptly accepted. Dordana kept asking Ed wouldn’t he like a “nice turkey burger”? Ed ate the brats. On another occasion, we had invited our new vascular surgeon and his family to our house for Thanksgiving dinner and also invited Ed and Dordana, so that the new surgeon could meet them. Dordana “persuaded” us to keep the food in the kitchen so that anyone who wanted seconds would have to get up from the dinner table and go to the kitchen to serve themselves. I’ve often thought that, if we could clone Dordana, there would be no need for bariatric surgery. Finally, a word about the ASBS meetings in Iowa City. For the most part, these were homey, almost county-fair like events, on the banks of the Iowa River. I remember one where my wife was enticed by the prospect of winning an ASBS T-shirt to play one of the games, lawn darts. This was an incredibly ill-conceived game where the participants throw what are essentially short javelins with stabilizing wings, at a target. If you’re dumb enough to walk near the target during a match, impalement might occur. The last one of these events, before the organization got too big for Iowa City, was an event that I, even now, don’t know how it was allowed to happen. The University had an incredibly talented French chef who got carried away and conceived a Provinces of France event where the food, cheeses, beer and wine of the various areas of France were featured at food tents along the Iowa River. This was a fantastic event which still ranks among the best parties I’ve ever attended. The cost was rumored to be over 25 thousand dollars, all which was paid for by equipment vendors. This was an unheard of amount of money in 1993. The event apparently triggered a major scandal at the University,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2014.12.023 1550-7289/Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Editorial / Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases 11 (2015) 284–285
especially among those in the Fine Arts who weren’t invited. Ed just kept quiet and the furor eventually died down. This was another good lesson for us all. I’ve been gone from Iowa City for over 10 years now. Nevertheless, my memories of Iowa City are very sweet ones. Ed has taught me a tremendous amount and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been associated with a man whose quiet leadership spawned an entire branch of surgery.
285
Ed and Dordana, many thanks to you both. James W. Maher, M.D. Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA
