medical tourism

hey, i had my gastric bypass done about 13 months ago and have lost approximately 100 lbs.  I'm getting frustrated b/c my clothes don't fit properly and my dog recently chewed apart my spanx...lol.  anyways this has got me thinking of plastic surgery and b/c i don't have much in terms of financial resources i'm looking into medical tourism.  does anyone have any advice or places that they would recommend?  i'm looking to have a tummy tuck, possible breast lift/implants, removing extra skin from my arms and maybe thighs... i don't even know where to begin so any info would be greatly appreciated!
annette

Annette-
Have you looked into any of the resident training programs?

Have you approached your insurance at all at least for your tummy tuck?  Mine paid for a "panniculectomy" which is basically a tt minus any muscle tightening.  Would have been nice to also have the muscles done but it wasn't worth it to me to have to pay out of pocket just for that.

I would definitely check out the residency programs, someone just posted a link in one of the postings on here the other day that lists all of the residency programs.  Some offer discounts, others don't but well worth finding out.  I know Mt. Sinai in NYC has one.  I have the phone number if you want it.

Hi Annette,
I work for a health insurance company and have seen several write-ups about medical tourism come across my email acount within the last few momths. It's getting very popular with Insurance Companies and I'll admit it's very intriguing! What I've seen is where the insurance company sends you there because they can pay for your flight, hotel, hospital and surgery fees for much less than they would pay for your services here in the states. The results I have read have been encouraging. One of the hot spots is India, and if you think about it, there are a lot of Indian trained Drs in the US. There are actually Medical Tourism travel companies that can set up the entire thing. I'm sure they do plenty of private  pay as well, and the MT travel agents should be able to provide you with credentials on different Drs. You can probably google MT and even MT Travel Agency to find some websites.
I also saw a good news pieces on CNN a couple of weeks ago. It was by Dr Sanjay Gupta and he spoke highly of the Drs where he was (I think India) You can go to CNN.com and google MT to find it.
Best of luck, keep us posted if you go that route.  I'd love to see how it turns out! 

Hi Annette,

Check out http://www.plasticsurgeryjourneys.com it has forums for each of the countries big for PS.

I'm personally looking into 2 surgeons in Brazil (Dr. Kuster & Dr. Fabio Zamprogno) and one in Mexico (Dr. Sauceda).

Good Luck!

Tom

Hi Annette
www.plasticsurgeryjourneys. com is is where I got alot of ideas and information and the internet in general. I chose Dr Francisco Sauceda.

Do your research and be comfortable with your choice.



LBL, BA/BL, Arm Lift, Medial Thigh Lift: Francisco Sauceda 09/08