I am sorry to pick on you "Housewife in San Diego," but your post is very concerning to me. Frankly, I don't think you are being safe.
First, a breast augmentation and a breast lift are 2 separate procedures. Dual-plane breast augmentations take me 90 minutes. Wise-pattern (anchor) mastopexies require another 3-4 hours, depending upon the "droopiness" of the breasts. So, for 2 procedures, you're already going to be under for 5 hours or so.
A tummy tuck would be a 3rd procedure. This takes me about 3 hours.
My math indicates that you're now up to 8 hours. Frankly, that's already pushing it.
I try to avoid operating on a cosmetic patient for longer than 6 hours at a time. If she is young and very healthy, then maybe I'll do 8 hours. If I think that the case is going to last longer than 8 hours, I never do the operation in an out-patient surgery center. I do these ultra-long procedures in a real American hospital with all of the safety precautions. The patient stays overnight for close monitoring by an excellent nursing staff.
OK, but now you want to add Brazilian butt lifting. This is not a 3rd procedure, but actually a 4th. Truthfully, I don't think BBL works. It has never produced long-term success in my hands, and so I don't do this procedure at all anymore.
Nevertheless, if you were to elect to do BBL, then I guess that it would add at least another 90 minutes to the operating room time. So, now you've been in the operating room for at least 9 hours. And that is way too long since I bet that you will not be having your surgery in a hospital.
Sorry. But this plan sounds unsafe.
I take care of 5-10 patients annually, whose aesthetic surgeries were botched during Mexican plastic surgery adventures. To me, the thought of obtaining medical care—especially surgery—outside of the USA is ridiculous. Many plastic surgery procedures come with significant risks. For example, most honest American/European/Asian research studies of breast reductions report 30-40% rates of complications! For tummy tucks, 25-35%! Many of these complications do not manifest themselves for 2-3 weeks.
So, what are you going to do if you have a complication? Drive back to Mexico? Who is going to take care of your complication at 3 am Sunday morning?
Well, in my community, I do. So, yes, I am bitter. I do resent going to the emergency room in the middle of the night to take care of a patient who had bad surgery done by a foreign doctor who had no intention of looking after her.
And, frequently, my hands are tied because I do not know the details of the surgery. Is the patient supplied with information regarding antibiotic usage? Suture type? Implant size and manufacturer? The answer is always, “No.” Have the patients and I ever been able to obtain this information from the foreign surgeon? Almost never. Ultimately, my management of the patient’s complications is necessarily suboptimal because I do not have the specifics.
I certainly admit that not every physician in the United States is outstanding. In fact, while there are approximately 60,000 American physicians performing cosmetic procedures, only 6,000 of us are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Certainly, we need to clean up our own backyard.
Likewise, I am more than happy to refer patients to any number of outstanding Mexican plastic surgeons. Many of the world’s leaders in plastic surgery come from Mexico, particularly Mexico City.
But if you're going to get plastic surgery in Mexico, then do it right. Make sure that the surgeon is truly Board Certified. Which Board? The plastic surgery board or the general surgery board? Is the facility accredited? What's the policy for complications? Who do you call in the middle of the night? And, then plan to stay down there, so that you can follow-up with your own doctor.
In most cases, even some of my Mexican colleagues who are fantastic surgeons are not right for my Californian patients. Follow-up is a crucial part of any surgery. Surgical care does not end when you leave the operating room! Patients need to be nursed through complications. Patients need reassurance; they must have the opportunity to come to see me, any day of the week and any time of day, to make sure that their experiences are “normal.” Patients need continued compassion.
And a doctor can’t do any of those old-fashioned duties across the border.
Moreover, a doctor needs to see his/her results. How can I make improvements in my technique if I don’t get to see my results after complete healing? This might be the biggest flaw of the cross-border surgeons. They don’t even know that they are continuing to make mistakes, because they never see their own complications.
Some things just shouldn’t be “out-sourced.” Medical care is one of them.
