The other day I was at the grocery store waiting in line and flipping through Texas Monthly and noticed an article about heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley. The article mentioned his memoir was about to be published. When I got home I did some research online and found that it was available at the River Oaks book store (I actually received it before it goes on sale on Amazon). The book was a Christmas gift to myself. Cooley’s memoir is once of the best memories/autobiographies I have ever read. Even the book was written by a heart surgeon the book did not have very many technical. I was surprised by how well Cooley writes.
After reading the book anyone could say that Denton Cooley is in a true way an all-American. Cooley went to the University of Texas on a basketball scholarship. Not only did he play basketball, was in a fraternity, graduated with highest honors, and served in the Army after medical school. In medical school, he excelled as reaching the top of his class at John Hopkins. What is seemingly clear thought the book is Cooley’s work ethic. During his peak years he would wake up 5 a.m. every day and work 15 hours. Since 1947, Cooley has published over 1,400 articles which is prolific if you consider that not every article submitted to medical journals get published. Cooley also taught at the University of Texas-Houston medical school and the Baylor College of Medicine. Clearly, Cooley has led a busy life. On top of writing and teaching the thing he is most well known for is the amount of surgeries he has done. The Texas Heart Institute which Cooley is affiliated with has performed over 100,000 surgeries. Cooley stopped performing surgeries at 78 (he is currently 91). Throughout the book he is constantly innovating new techniques or using different devices to try to save the patient’s life. Cooley took on difficult cases that other doctors would have never touched. In the period between 1962 and 1967 the mortality rate for people that received heart transplants fell from 70% to 8%. Cooley and Domingo Liotta worked on the first artificial heart which allowed the first patient to live 65 hours. Today artificial hearts can last between 1-2 years. Cooley no doubt helped advanced medicine and promote Houston as one of the best medical centers in the world with St. Luke’s. The best part of the story is saved for last when Cooley who had a rift with fellow surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey for 40 years make up.
The book is written from an honest viewpoint and demonstrates how humble Cooley is. Not only does Cooley talk about his successes but he also talks about unfortunate situations. All in all though, Cooley’s memoir inspires the reader to make a difference in the world. Cooley has touched so many hearts yet many more lives.
The prior post was evidently written by Cooley's publicist. You may Google "Cooley memoir conflicts with" to see a published article with the facts. Cooley's towering self-absorbtion and self-serving "memoir" directly conflict with well established medical history. We would expect a well known surgeon to put the interests of his patient before his own desire for the fame associated with a highly questionable medical "first". That "first" was attained through deceit, subterfuge, and the violation of federal guidelines designed to protect the lives of patients. Cooley's violation led to his censure by his peers and tragedy for the patient and his family. The advance of cardiovascular technology was impacted as well. His employer, Baylor College of medicine, very nearly lost millions in federal funding for medical research -funding brought to Baylor by Dr. Michael E. DeBakey's diligence over many years.
ReplyDeleteI am not Dr. Cooley’s publicist nor do I know Dr. Cooley personally. I would point out though that Dr. Cooley helped create the first artificial heart with private donations instead of federal money. The reason Cooley was able to innovate so rapidly was because of less regulation which led to more innovation. Federal guidelines hurt patients. The clearest example of this is the FDA which prevents doctors and patients who know far better than government bureaucrats their risk/reward models. Dr. DeBakey isn’t alive to defend himself nor did he ever publish an autobiography. I don’t understand how Cooley could have such a bad relationship with DeBakey if they eventually reconciled. I would point out that every autobiography has to be taken with a grain of salt. Historians will ultimately decide what really happened.
DeleteAs an adult survivor of a rare congenital heart defect I can say beyond a doubt that Dr. Denton Cooley saved my life. Not once but three times. He pioneered the artificial heart and saved countless lives besides mine. He is loved and respected for many reasons and it is well deserved.
ReplyDeleteJessica glad to hear that you were one of the 100,000 hearts that he saved! Great story!
ReplyDeleteI was trained by Dr Cooley from May 1999 to May 2001.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to see a faster and cooler surgeon and yet humble.
Dr suresh BHAGiA
Cardiothoracic surgeon
India