My surgical training in general was very strong on the treatments of traumatic hand injuries. I have spent numerous nights and long days reattaching severed fingers, mending broken bones and helping patients with different hand injuries get back to their normal lives. However, when I founded NOVA Plastic surgery I started seeing patients for both cosmetic and traumatic hand injury. Deep inside I always felt more at my place when taking care of a little child who was bitten by a dog in the face, or a worker who is eager to regain function of his hand after a table saw injury.
At the same time, I kept noticing that I was able to treat many of my patients presenting with cosmetic concerns with non-surgical options like lasers and fillers. While this was brewing and developing in my mind slowly, a dramatic personal experience changed a lot of how I look at my work.
My third child Jad was born. Soon after his birth he was diagnosed with a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot which needed open heart surgery at the age of 3 months. I was determined to get him the best treatment possible. I started researching for the best surgeons and centers to do his surgery. As I was looking at options it hit me that “pediatric heart surgeons’ open babies’ hearts and fix it” “what an honorable profession” and what a tasks these men and women have taken on themselves.
The option was then really clear. I wanted to do surgeries that would make my kids, wife and family proud, and it was then that I dedicated my practice to making a difference for those injured. This is not to belittle the work of cosmetic surgeons, on the contrary I continue to run and supervise the staff at Virginia skin wellness center, who are taking care of skin wellness in a holistic and natural approach. I just felt my calling and what I was meant to do is hand and face trauma surgery.
