Famous Doctor, Famous Patients

Dr. Ramon Castroviejo

I always said I wanted to work for an important person. That dream came true when I became an executive assistant to Dr. Ramon Castroviejo, a Spanish born eye-surgeon who was a pioneer in corneal transplant surgery. Dr. Castroviejo was a developer of techniques for transplanting corneal tissue from the eyes of those who had just died to damaged eyes of the living. His method was to insert a rectangular-shaped ''window'' into the cornea. Dr. Castroviejo explained that rectangular windows gave better results than the circular ones that had been tried earlier, since their edges could be fitted better to merge with and become a living part of the rest of the eye. Dr. Castroviejo even had surgical instruments named after him. I remember one night while watching the TV show Grey’s Anatomy, I was amused to hear one of the doctors ask for a “Castroviejo knife.”

Aristotle Onassis and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Dr. Castroviejo’s clientele included many celebrities. Aristotle Onassis was one of them. I remember after Onassis had his eye surgery, he tried to give Dr. C. (“Cassy”) a check for $40,000. Cassy refused it, pushing it back in his hand. Onassis pushed it back to him. After this went on for several minutes, Cassy finally took the check saying he’d accept it “for his foundation.”  After this Onassis invited Cassy over for dinner. Cassy hesitated, at which point Onassis asked to use the phone to call his wife—Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis—to try to convince him. At this point I excused myself from the room—to give them privacy, and also so I could listen in on the phone from my desk.  I mean, come on! It was Jackie Onassis on the line! Who wouldn’t want to listen in? I gently picked up the receiver just in time to hear that famous soft whispery voice say, “Ohhh, you must come for dinner, Ramon! Ari so wants you to join us.” Finally Cassy agreed, and Jackie said, “How wonderful. Ari will be so pleased.”  After they hung up, Onassis joked with Cassy about who would be his date. Cassey knew he had to bring someone young and attractive, to be somewhat on par with Jackie. And yet for all of Jackie’s intelligence and glamour Cassy also knew Onassis preferred the opera singer Maria Callas. “She has more pepper,” he confided to Cassy.

In her heyday, Charo was difficult to ignore

Another memorable patient was the celebrity Charo. Charo burst into the reception area, a vision in knee-high white go-go boots and mile high blond hair. At the time she was married to the bandleader Xavier Cugat. “How is Xavier? Is he dead?” Cassy asked, as way of a greeting. Charo’s wide eyes grew wider in shock. “Oh, RAMON!” she gasped, and clutched her heart dramatically. “How can you say such a thing? That is my husband!” Cassy shrugged; it was his idea of a joke.  Charo had a very minor eye infection; she kept insisting to Cassy that her eyes looked a little red to her. “You’re fine, just stop staring at your eyes,” he chided her.  As she sat in the examining room chair, a young good-looking doctor by the name of Dr. Armond came in the room to ask Cassy a question. Charo immediately perked up; she smiled her best megawatt smile and tossed her blond mane of hair. When she didn’t get a reaction from the doctor, she gave a demure little cough, and when he glanced in her direction she repeated the hair flip and smile again. Still no reaction. When he and Cassy left the room, Charo turned to me, shocked and a little bit worried. “What—what is wrong with him?” she asked. I then gently broke the news to her that the handsome doctor in question was gay. “Ahhh,” she said, and looked at her reflection in her compact mirror again and gave a little satisfied smile. He was gay! So it had nothing to do with her perhaps losing her charms. She snapped the compact shut, smoothed her white miniskirt over her thighs, told me to have a nice day, and bounded out the door. And everyone in the doctor’s office stared at her as she left. Except of course for Dr. Armond.