"It’s an Honor to Serve the Community”
A Whole Patient Perspective
Mission Accomplished band
Editor’s Note: Parts of this piece ran last year before Pints for Pink had to be rescheduled due to Hurricane Helene. Elena Tenzel's inaugural event is back on and scheduled for April 5 at the Funkatorium. Please join us!
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.
"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".
"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."
Meet the Doctors at Pints for Pink on April 5th!
Breast and plastic surgery teams will be guest bartenders for the evening, behind the bar pouring and serving beer!
Breast Surgeons
Cameron "Ward" Coker, MD - Breast Surgeon
Michelle LeBlanc, MD - Breast Surgeon
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Team
Eric Halvorson, MD
Sarah Sher, MD
Paul Tenzel, MD
Camille Broome, PA-C
Braedy McCurry, FNP
Mission Gynecologic Oncology
Blair Harkness, MD
Music will be by Mission Accomplished
Mission Accomplished is an Asheville-based is a classic rock cover band made up of Mission Health colleagues. Who knew that health care workers and friends could have so much fun rocking out together? MISSION ACCOMPLISHED plays classic rock tunes through the decades!
Josh Powell - Drums
Rob Lane - Vocal/Guitar
Roy Nanz - Bass
Phil Stahel - Rhythm Guitar
Joel Tatangelo - Lead Guitar
Cristal Ramos - Vocals/Sax
Please join us at Pints for Pink on April 5th!