Local mother nearly dies after traveling overseas for cosmetic surgery

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cosmetic surgery is more popular than ever and the options for procedures are taking many people overseas.

"One night, just as I was finishing up at the office I was heading home to have dinner with my family, and I get a call from the hospital," said Dr. Theodore Nyame with Charlotte Plastic Surgery.

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The urgent call that Nyame received was about a woman who will be referred to as Katie to protect her identity.

"At this point I have nonstop fever, body aches, shivering," Katie told Channel 9. "It was bad. It was really bad."

Nyame, a board-certified plastic surgeon, said Katie was essentially in septic shock and close to death.

"She had an infection so I start talking to her about what's happened, she mentions she'd gone overseas to the Dominican Republic to have cosmetic surgery," said Nyame.

Katie said she had lost weight and was planning for her wedding when she decided to look into plastic surgery.

"I was planning my wedding, I've lost maybe 110-120 pounds and I felt like I still didn't feel comfortable in my own body," she said.

She decided on several procedures and her research led overseas.

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Cosmetic surgery is cheaper in many countries than in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents travel abroad every year in what's called "medical tourism."

Many travel for a host of reasons -- from lower costs to wanting a specialized doctor.

Katie zeroed in on the Dominican Republic, having spent time there as a child. Plus, she speaks Spanish and said she has relatives who had studied medicine there.

"My research consisted of Instagram and online, not really talking to the doctors necessarily. You message the doctor's assistant or technician and that's how you communicate across the board with all the doctors overseas," Katie said.

Katie said she found a doctor who had knowledge of surgery after weight loss and would perform liposuction, a tummy tuck, and surgery to both arms all at once -- in hindsight, that should have been a red flag.

Katie told Eyewitness News reporter Elsa Gillis all of the doctors overseas agreed to do all the procedures at once.  In the U.S., she knew they wouldn't, but she thought it was a matter of more regulation, not health or safety.

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The trip and procedures all seemed to go well, until she got home -- that's when the pain started.

Katie messaged her doctor, who said it was normal and to rest.

"That's when the pain kicked in, full-blown, like, intolerable, can't sit up, can't sleep, can't work, but he kept saying that was normal," said Katie.

At one point, she said he recommended pain medicine and an antibiotic ointment, but the pain persisted.

"I went to the hospital and immediately everyone was alarmed," she said.

It turns out, the incisions on her abdomen and arms had almost completely opened and were infected.

Nyame spent hours in the operating room with her.  After surgery, she said, he told her he didn't know if she was going to make it.

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"That's when everything hit me like a ton of bricks. I could've left my daughter without a mom. I am a single parent," she said.

Nyame said patients should insist on an American board-certified plastic surgeon, a title that requires rigorous training and testing.

"People are willing to travel and roll the dice to get multiple procedures done, at a lower price point, not understanding that if something goes wrong they may not have the care to stay out of trouble," he said. "When you come back, if something goes wrong, who's gonna take care of you? I even tell patients you don't always choose a plastic surgeon for when things go right, you also choose a plastic surgeon for what happens if things don't go according to plan."

Nyame told Channel 9 the American Board of Plastic Surgery's website lists board-certified plastic surgeons, for patients to double-check. If they're not board certified, he said patients should ask why and find out who accredits them to perform surgery.

"Sadly, for me, it was enough to hear that he was a doctor. And it's not," said Katie.  "Just the thought of another mom going through the same thing as I went -- anyone. Now after all this time, I just want to be healthy, not how I look, and that should have been my priority."

Cox Media Group