CHARLOTTE, NC (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – It’s all the rage: skip expensive surgeries and dental procedures in the United States and get them done overseas for thousands less.
For some, surgery and recovery are seamless, but it nearly cost a Charlotte woman her life.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, had lost a hundred pounds and was looking to feel better in her own skin.
“I felt good in my clothes. I was a size 7 or 9, but I felt like my arms were just, I still looked like an overweight person,” she told FOX 46.
She wanted to be like others she saw on Instagram and YouTube. She researched various surgeries to complete her look. There was just one problem: the cost.
“Definitely out of my price range for what I wanted to have.”
What she wanted was a tummy tuck with a brachioplasty, also known as an arm lift, and 360 liposuction. A doctor in the Dominican Republic was $11,000 cheaper than a doctor here in the United States. It was the ultimate all inclusive package.
“For $7,000, I got plane tickets, a place to stay, surgeries, pain medication, and even food.”
He flew to the Dominican Republic and performed the three surgeries that night. Within 11 days she was back home in Charlotte. When he returned, he noticed something was wrong.
“I noticed the incision had a small pimple. So I called the doctor and he said, “Hey, it looks like it might be infected.” He says, “We took out your drains, this could be the fluid trying to leave your body.”
There was no doubt that she was trying to leave her body. Every time he stood up, liquid poured out.
As the days passed, she and her doctor WhatsApped each other. She says he told her to keep taking antibiotics, but things kept getting worse. At one point she says her skin felt like it was melting off her belly. Finally, he went to the hospital.
“He already had a fever, low blood pressure. My biggest fear is that if she waited a few hours or even a day, she might not be around to tell her story,” said Dr. Theodore Nyame.
Nyame is a board certified plastic surgeon with Charlotte Plastic Surgery. He donated his services to save her life.
“What I had was MRSA, so it’s very complicated. It had spread to my body. It was basically eating me from the inside out,” the woman said.
“We did a number of procedures that were local procedures. I lost count of how many we did,” Nyame said.
Nyame cut more than $100,000 from her account by donating his services, but ended up with $35,000 in hospital bills. He says patients should never shop for medical care. If you choose to go abroad for surgery, he recommends having an exit plan.
“That person should be connected to a board-certified surgeon who has agreed in advance to take care of you in case you have a problem,” he said.
Josef Woodman, CEO of Patients Beyond Borders, has made it his career to find quality medical care abroad.
“We try to keep people up to date on sites that we’ve either visited or know are of great quality,” Woodman said. “Make sure the chemistry is right. Make sure they respond quickly, make sure they ask for medical records, and what we tell patients is you don’t have to. Even when you get down there, if you don’t like the look of the clinic, leave.”
Almost three years later, the woman has been healed both physically and mentally. Her scars, she says, are reminders that there are more important things in life.
“I could have left my daughter without a mom just because I wanted to look like an Instagram model,” she said.
