A Vancouver-area woman has a warning for anyone who may be considering heading abroad to save money on cosmetic surgery.
Katherine Halstead flew to Tijuana, Mexico for a procedure to lose weight, but is now in hospital in Richmond where doctors are trying to repair the damage.
Doctors in B.C. say doctors at the Mexican clinic accidentally split her spleen during the procedure, and the staples in her stomach have failed.
Halstead had her surgery at the TJ Bariatric Centre in Tijuana, which advertises “gastric sleeve” surgery on its website for $4,449.
She paid $4,149.00 for her surgery, which is about 25 per cent of what it costs in Canada.
Halstead says the surgery was gift to herself, after trying unsuccessfully for many years to lose 40 pounds, a decision she now regrets.
“Ever since I was younger, I always complained about my weight,” says Halstead, in tears from her hospital bed in Richmond.
She wants to warn others who are considering going abroad for the surgery.
“Don’t do it, think about yourself and your family,” she says. “Life’s too short and it’s too important for that. If I can save one other person from doing something so stupid I would.”
Doctors at Richmond General Hospital say they have seen patients in similar situations before and warn against going abroad for these procedures.
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