>> As a plastic surgeon, you have a
very unique relationship to patients.
Typically patients go through something.
They go through cancer or trauma or a
significant negative life experience,
and then they come see us and we help
improve the quality of their life.
So, really, plastic surgery is
about restoring form and function,
and so it's a different patient relationship
and kind of a partnership in decision-making
and what patients need and what they would like
to do to kind of restore their sense of self.
It's shared decision-making, certainly,
and whether to do surgery;
and it's a lot of education.
So it's me explaining what options exist
and how recovery time and, you know,
potential improvement would fit into
kind of the goals for themselves.
You know, it's really restoring
normal anatomy, so I think, you know,
there is a sense of artistry; but it's also
kind of piecing together different methods
of reconstruction to give the patient the
best outcome in terms of what they looked
like before trauma or before cancer and kind
of what is most proportional
with their face or their body.
It's lovely to see patients post-op that are
happy and able to get back to their lives
and back to work and back to their families.
That's really our ultimate goal is improving
the quality of life and getting people back
to themselves and the life
that they want to live.
