Dr. Sean Boutros has been a practicing plastic and reconstructive surgeon for approximately 10 years. He decided a career as a plastic surgeon was right for him because it allowed him to combine his passions for art and science.

“Plastic surgery was, for me, the perfect blend of science, art and creativity,” Boutros said. “(It uses) the skills that I have and the things that I enjoy.”

Now, working with general and breast health surgeons such as Dr. Jo Pollack, Boutros uses his artistic and surgical talents to help patients at Westside Surgical Hospital look great and feel good about themselves following a mastectomy. Knowing that they’ll look just as feminine as they did before the surgery makes it easier for patients to make smart decisions about their care, Boutros said.

“(it’s easier for women to make) the decision to have a mastectomy if they know that they’ll still look and feel feminine and beautiful when they’re done with that decision – it makes the decision much easier,” Boutros said. “They don’t have to feel like they’ve lost their femininity or their sexuality, (or) a piece of who they are.”

Boutros routinely sees patients who have opted for preventive bilateral mastectomies after learning that they carry a BRCA gene mutation, which dramatically increases the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. The same gene mutations were behind Angelina Jolie’s decision to undergo bilateral mastectomies earlier this year. Boutros applauds her bravery and hopes her story inspires other women to be tested for the gene mutations.

“The BRCA gene is a gene that carries an approximately 80 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer – 80 percent of women who have that gene will develop breast cancer in their life,” he said. “it also carries with it an approximately 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer. Both of those cancers are cancers that… if treated early, or prevented, are 100 percent curable.”