Special Episode 58: Fathers, Mentors, and Microsurgery

DiepCJourney Podcast

English - June 10, 2024 18:02 - 27 minutes - 38.3 MB - ★★★★★ - 6 ratings
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Previous Episode: Episode 57: Proximie, Augmented Reality in Surgical Education

Next Episode: Episode 59: A Breast Cancer Patient Intent on Finding Access to a DIEP Flap Surgeon

This is a special episode of the DiepCJourney podcast. It is one of the most touching interviews I have done to date. Originally recorded during the pandemic as a video, I searched through my audio archives hoping I might find it to repurpose the interview. Thankfully, you can now listen to the interview as a podcast. I added a special tribute at the beginning of the podcast to honor my own Father and share the intrinsic value and meaning of the necklace I wear.

Next, I honor the mentor, Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo, who changed the trajectory of my work in 2016 encouraging me to open DiepCFoundation. The interview is a tribute to his own dad, the inspiration and story of why he chose microsurgery as his profession. Dr. C weaves in the history of microsurgery, riveted by the stories of soldiers during WWI and WWII that he watched on the “telly” with his dad during his childhood. You must listen to his account of Howard Gillies, the pioneering surgeon who treated facial injuries and pioneered the use of skin flaps in plastic surgery.

The pauses in his voice, the reflection in his words, parallel the ethos of my dad. These conversations in life are important to reflect upon and what brought us to choose our purpose in life. Mentors are leaders. They guide us, teach us, and counsel us. This quote from Steven Spielberg summarizes it beautifully. Thank you for being that mentor in my life Dr. C, and I feel it reflects the feeling we both have for our dads and one I am certain your children feel about you.

"The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image but giving them the opportunity to create themselves." ~ Steven Spielberg