Life Story: Dr. Robert Meisterling
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A trusted doctor from Stillwater is being remembered for his expertise in sports medicine, his contributions to the community and his kind spirit.
Dr. Robert Meisterling was an orthopedic surgeon who co-founded St. Croix Orthopaedics in 1977. During his 30-year career in the Twin Cities, he mentored many other doctors.
In this week's Life Story, we learned how an unexpected diagnosis sidelined Dr. Meisterling, but didn't stop him from coaching other doctors.
His easygoing bedside manner with injured athletes may have come from his own days of playing sports in high school.
"You could see it when he walked in the door that he knew. He knew sports medicine, and he knew the game," his colleague and mentee Dr. Andrea Saterbak said.
When Dr. Robert Meisterling wasn't in scrubs and performing surgeries, he was serving as a team doctor for the Stillwater Ponies and the St. Paul Saints, and showing younger surgeons, like Dr. Saterbak, the tricks of the trade.
"Little moves in surgery: How to position, how to hold. He would kind of look at the new docs and say 'Why do you need all these instruments? You just do it like this," she said. "He always said a strong team is a better team, and he was wanting to always recruit people into the group who could maybe show him up. But in a way that was collegial."
She says her mentor taught her the importance of relaxing when you're not at work. He did it through gardening.
"He grew unusual things like pumpkins. It's known that he an award-winning 400 pound pumpkin," she said. "I remember at a board meeting, at the end, he had to leave to go turn the pumpkin."
But retirement came earlier than he expected or wanted.
"That was a sad time. There were some signs of weaknesses coming on and as a surgeon it's different than sitting at a desk," Dr. Saterback said. "You need to have all of your skills physically."
So in 2008, Dr. Meisterling stepped away from performing surgeries and focused on managing the business of his clinics.
"There was a Christmas card that stated he had a progressive neurologic condition. I kind of knew in the back of my head, and a lot of us knew, it was ALS," Dr. Saterback said.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, didn't stop him from being an affectionate husband, a father of four, and a grandfather of 13. His two sons are also doctors.
"There was no question they loved what their Dad did and saw how happy he was. They are orthopedic surgeons within our group. They are very skilled and living on the legacy," Dr. Saterback said.
Dr. Meisterling was 69 years old when he passed away last week. The family says donations in his memory can be made to the Blazeman Foundation for ALS or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
