Tales for Tagliacozzi

Preface Walking alone down Via dei Calzaiuoli, I felt eerily at home. The air in October was brisk and without all of the tourists, the streets were quieter. Florence like this felt more authentic. My daily walk through town and across the Arno to the Stanford Abroad campus was an opportunity for me to reflect on my time in Italy, my future, and all of the historic geniuses who had walked these roads before me. I am Greek, but I feel equally Italian. Unna faccia, una razza. One face, one race. I love art and Renaissance history. I love science and medicine. I love languages and travel. These are the things that drew me to Florence and the reason a part of my soul still resides there. I marveled at the magnificent dome of Brunelleschi every day and the golden Baptistery doors that faced the duomo. I’d frequently trace my finger over a relief carving of a man’s profile etched into the cornerstone of the Palazzo Vecchio. The carving was thought to be the work of Michelangelo. These innumerable reminders of the city’s past connected me with their predecessors. I recall sipping an early morning espresso at my favorite café just the other side of the Old Bridge and wondering what it would have been like to live in the cinqucento – the golden century of the Italian Renaissance. I also contemplated where I would be in the future, say 10 years. Although I enjoyed art and architecture, I knew that for a career I was most interested in Medicine. I was certain that I would be a doctor. But, I had no idea that I would someday be a plastic surgeon Gaspare Tagliacozzi grew up in Bologna, Italy. A contemporary to Michelangelo and Leonardo, he would have walked similar cobblestone streets on his way to school. I’m sure he never imagined being a plastic surgeon either. Let alone the founder of modern-day plastic surgery. First, he was a professor of surgery and anatomy, and later developed the so-called “Italian method” of plastic surgery in the mid-sixteenth century. I learned of Tagliacozzi as a surgical resident, primarily because his portrait is the symbol for the American Board of Plastic Surgery. As a resident, that’s about all I had the time to learn regarding this Italian surgeon. But, as I matured in the field and gained more independence, I also gained more free time for reading. I actually purchased the definitive biography of Gaspare Tagliacozzi by Gnudi and Webster as well as a reprint of one of his most famous articles to learn more about one of Plastic Surgery’s founding fathers. Today, I spend my working days mostly at my private practice The Zannis Center for Plastic Surgery in New Bern, NC. I am the first to arrive, usually by 7am. I check my email and sort through charts left on my desk from the day before. Then, I review patient files and notes for the surgeries I am about to perform. Rhinoplasty, tummy tuck, and two breast augmentations. A great day. We steadily work through the cases, flip-flopping between two operating rooms, until 4pm. Then I reheat my cold coffee, make my operative reports and read more email. There are lots of bills to be paid, but I put that off usually until the next day. Tagliacozzi performed rhinoplasties too. In fact, most say he invented rhinoplasty, or literally shaping of the nose. I’m sure his were different from the ones we do today. He hadn’t discovered tip grafts or spreader grafts. I’m sure he would have been shocked to see what happened to Michael Jackson’s infamous nose. I’m sure he would have been shocked by many things we do in the world of plastic surgery. These thoughts are what led me to write this book. I hoped to reconnect with my Renaissance studies and rekindle my passion for Italian culture and history while delving more deeply into the life of my field’s earliest forerunner. I wanted to share my delight as I imagined recounting the many unthinkable things that happen in my practice to someone like Gaspare Tagliacozzi. And, most importantly, I wanted to give a true insight into the life of a modern-day plastic surgeon. Prospective patients will learn a lot about the procedures available today. Everyone else will hopefully be amused.