Editor’s Note: During the summer of 2023, Biltmore Park’s Elena Tenzel was at a Stingrays swim meet to watch her daughter Jacqueline compete. Three teams were competing: Biltmore Park Stingrays, Biltmore Forest Barracudas and Brevard Bearacudas. Next to Elena stood her husband, Dr. Paul Tenzel, and his colleague and their friend Dr. Sarah Sher. Elena had received a breast cancer diagnosis and her surgery was scheduled for that week. Dr. Sarah Sher was her surgeon. Sometimes we think of patients and doctors as us and them, but we are all part of the same community, rooting for our kids on a Saturday morning.

Dr. Sher will be just one of many physicians attending Pints for Pink, Elena’s fundraising event to celebrate those with breast cancer and raise money for a cure. Dr. Sher says, “I am looking forward to Pints for Pink as I can tell a lot of hard work has gone into this event. The venue is great, the raffle options are fun and I hope we are able to make this event an annual tradition to help fundraise and support our patients.” As our community comes together for this incredible cause, we asked Dr. Sher to share a little bit of her story with us.

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My father and grandfather were both general surgeons; however, their practices were very different. My grandfather practiced in the Texas Medical Center, and my dad was the sole general surgeon for the area where we lived in Texas. They both taught me the importance of hard work and treating every patient as if they were a family member.

Both my grandfather and my dad kept a good balance of fishing, running and working. I started going with my dad and watching surgery at a young age. I really loved the ability to diagnose a problem and to be able to fix it. As I went through undergraduate and medical school, surgery showed me the art of compassion combined with technical precision married to the art of science. Growing up in a small town and seeing what a positive difference my dad made in many families’ lives was a huge reason I went into medicine.

I always wanted to pursue a career in surgery, I spent a summer with the craniofacial team at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, which exposed me to plastic surgery and the breadth of the field. I did a few cases with the microsurgery team, and I knew that it was what I was going to do. Plastic surgery is very competitive, especially the integrated track, so I focused on my academics and research opportunities.

Taking care of the women and men in our community is an honor. I do not get to pick who gets sick; however, I can pull my chair up to their bedside, hold their hand, and do everything I can to get them through one of the more disruptive situations of their lives. Plastic surgery is often the only part of a woman’s breast cancer journey where there is some room for choice. I think this is a silver lining for women, and we work hard to deliver wonderful care, not just for the surgery portion, but for the whole patient.