Myrl Jeffcoat myrlj@jps.net

27 mars, 2005 10:27

Plastic surgery visit a bad trip for Texas woman

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Texas single mother Carla Strange heard that Costa Rica was an economical place to have cosmetic surgery, but she got more than she bargained for.  The woman said she nearly died after her breasts became infected, and the

U.S. medical bills she ran up after returning home hit $100,000. She said she still needs more surgery.

This is not a story of medical malpractice, because such allegations are complex and best leveled by experts. And bad things happen in medicine even with the best of care. But Ms. Strange was so upset by her Costa Rican

experience that she has put up a Web site showing graphic photos of her infected body.

She came to Costa Rica, she said, Feb. 24. She is 42 and thought that her breasts had sagged. She mortgaged her Lott, Texas, home to get money for the procedure. The idea was to get a pair of breast implants.  She chose a clinic here that specialized in such work. We won't name the clinic if and until a legal action is filed, but Ms. Strange does.

She said she developed a high fever the day after her breast operations here. She said her doctors were not concerned until her left breast started bleeding and showing clear signs of infection. Her physicians here treated

her again, removed one implant, washed it and then reinserted it, she said.  Soon she was on a flight to Texas, but she said she nearly fainted in the Houston airport and had to use a wheelchair.

The following day she said she was in a Scott & White Hospital and fighting infection and blood poisoning for her life.  She said physicians there had to remove the implants and remove breast tissue. The fight against infection lasted 10 days, she said.

Her Costa Rican physicians said they would take care of her if she could return here, but that would have been a life-threatening experience considering her condition, she said.  She said her problems are not over because she needs more operations and suffered tissue damage that will require at least a year to heal.

Ms. Strange is philosophical about her problem. She is not happy with her treatment here but she is less that accusatory. She said she just wants her body to be made right. And she also wants the world to know about her

experiences.  She just wants other people to consider her experiences when they are making plans to visit Costa Rica's cosmetics surgery meccas. Her Web site has attracted more than 6,000 hits since March 31.

A photo that she provided shows a woman groggy with illness. But a later photo shows her smiling and in good spirits with friends.