[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Introduction: %22The Nightmare%22″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ title_font=”||||||||” title_text_align=”right” background_image=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/colombiacosmeticsurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/04\/cover.jpg”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]In the blue-carpeted waiting room of Dr. Ernesto Barbosa, Monica Salgado folded both her hands over a left rib. After entering the clinic in the Colombian capital of Bogota, the 46-year-old woman from New Jersey doubled over in pain before gathering herself to walk across the room to take a seat.<\/p>\n
Salgado was wearing slacks and a long-sleeved shirt, but peeling a pant leg back revealed a compression garment, one of several covering her whole body. Underneath the compression garments, Salgado\u2019s skin was black and blue.<\/p>\n
In the summer of 2017, Salgado had traveled from her U.S. home to Bogota to receive laser liposuction, breast implants and a facelift from a doctor in Colombia billing himself as a certified plastic surgeon. She said she thinks her doctor must have nicked one of her ribs with the liposuction needle during the operation.<\/p>\n
Angered by the experience and crippled by the residual pain from her liposuction, Salgado had sought medical help from Barbosa, a leading plastic surgeon in Bogota and an ardent advocate for strengthened rules governing the profession in Colombia. Barbosa and other certified plastic surgeons are routinely approached by patients seeking corrective treatment following slip-shod surgeries by less skilled or unscrupulous surgeons.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.106″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_testimonial author=”Monica Salgado” background_layout=”light” _builder_version=”3.0.106″]\u201cOur doctor\u2014he just lied to us.\u201d[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]Salgado was accompanied to her new doctor\u2019s office by her cousin, Gloriela Fernandez, who had also gone to Colombia for liposuction, and Salgado\u2019s 17-year-old daughter, Naomi, who\u2019d joined them to have a rhinoplasty \u2014 surgery on her nose \u2014 to correct sinus problems.<\/p>\n
Like Salgado, Fernandez was in compression garments and clutched the armrests of the waiting room\u2019s steel chair whenever she made stiff adjustments. Naomi wore a bandage over the bridge of her nose and breathed through her mouth.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I had this done, it was a nightmare,\u201d said Salgado.\u201cJust terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
A friend from New Jersey had undergone plastic surgery with the same Colombian doctor and had recommended him to Salgado. The timing happened to be convenient for Naomi, who was a few months short of turning 18 and being legally allowed to have her nose operation done in the U.S. Naomi didn\u2019t want to have the surgery while starting university in the fall; the timing \u2014 not to mention the price \u2014 was better in Colombia.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/colombiacosmeticsurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/04\/Monica-Gloriela-Naomi.jpg” _builder_version=”3.0.106″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”14px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]Gloriela Fernandez, Naomi, and Monica Salgado in their recovery room in Bogota.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.106″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]When the cousins inquired about their planned operations, their doctor allegedly assured them that they would have to stay in the South American country for a maximum of seven days, and that there would be no pain, no compression garments and no scars.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere you go,\u201d Fernandez recalled thinking. \u201cThat\u2019s my dream. That\u2019s what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n
The three medical tourists from New Jersey decided to go ahead with their surgeries. The operations were to be carried out in a wealthy neighbourhood in Bogota, but upon the arrival of the Americans at the location, the clinic was not what they had expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just like a house. It doesn\u2019t even have a sign. You have to ring a bell just so they can open the door,\u201d said Fernandez. Despite the warning signs, the cousins apprehensively went ahead with their procedures.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/colombiacosmeticsurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/04\/Salgado-clinic.jpg” admin_label=”Salgado bruises” _builder_version=”3.0.106″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”14px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]The Americans had their operations done in a clinic that looked like a large house instead of a hospital. (Photo| Marina Wang)
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]Salgado was first. In the operating room, she remembered noticing the nurse didn\u2019t change gloves and the medical staff were using their cellphones and touching their hair without washing their hands afterwards.<\/p>\n
Salgado thought this was suspicious but felt pressured to have the surgery anyway since she had already paid. She suggested to Fernandez that she and Naomi should have their operations elsewhere, but in what Fernandez admitted was a lapse in judgment, she underwent the surgery too.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.106″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]\u201cI was really numb in my brain because my cousin was already ready for the surgery,\u201d said Fernandez. She added that the clinic staff had rushed her through pre-operative administration.<\/p>\n
While Salgado was still anesthetised, the clinic began her daughter\u2019s rhinoplasty in another room without her mother being present. \u201cIf something happened, what were they going to do?\u201d asked Salgado. \u201cShe\u2019s a minor!\u201d<\/p>\n
Salgado woke from her surgery screaming in pain. She remembers her doctor assuring her everything was fine.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]After Fernandez\u2019s surgery, she woke feeling hypothermic. \u201cI was shaking so bad,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the worst part is that the doctor didn\u2019t show up. He didn\u2019t know if I was awake, if I was dead, if I had a heart attack, or if I was in a coma.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fernanadez later discovered that the doctor she had been consulting with in Colombia before her surgery was not the same one who actually performed the operations. \u201cYou should meet the doctor that\u2019s doing your operation. It\u2019s just wrong,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel betrayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salgado\u2019s daughter Naomi came away from her rhinoplasty without complications, although her mother wasn\u2019t entirely impressed by the aesthetics. Worried and suffering pain in the aftermath of their procedures, Salgado and Fernandez turned to Barbosa, whose credentials were impeccable.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/colombiacosmeticsurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/04\/IMG-20170527-WA0003-e1523315641709.jpg” _builder_version=”3.0.106″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”14px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]<\/p>\n
A degree of bruising is normal after a liposuction, but Salgado was falsely informed about the procedure. (Photo| Monica Salgado)<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.106″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_testimonial author=”Gloriela Fernandez” background_layout=”light” _builder_version=”3.0.106″]\u201cFor this doctor, I wish the best for him \u2014 that nobody dies on him.\u201d[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]In this tropical country in the northwest corner of South America, there\u2019s a thriving plastic surgery industry with many highly qualified surgeons providing excellent service to both domestic and foreign clients. But there\u2019s also a seamy underbelly, and Salgado and Fernandez had found it.<\/p>\n
Explosive consumer demand for cosmetic procedures and lax medical regulations have combined to foster an unscrupulous branch of the industry, brimming with underqualified surgeons and unhygienic clinics performing \u2014 sometimes very badly, but for cut-rate prices compared to North America \u2014 what is often highly invasive surgery.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.106″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]With many surgeons falling short of basic standards for medical practice and ethics, countless unsuspecting patients have become victims of botched surgeries. For several years, some politicians and members of the Colombian Society of Plastic Surgery (SCCP) \u2014 a respected medical body led by Barbosa and others \u2014 have been advocating for reforms that would raise the bar of professionalism in the specialty and improve patient safety.<\/p>\n
The issue sparked public outrage in 2016 when the story of Lorena Beltr\u00e1n, a journalist and victim of a botched breast reduction, appeared across major Colombian media outlets. After investigating the surgeon that had left Beltr\u00e1n with disfigured breasts, the high-profile Colombian newscast Noticias Uno<\/em> exposed 40 doctors who had obtained \u201cexpress\u201d plastic surgery specialties in other countries and had their credentials verified through a medical oversight system rife with government corruption.<\/p>\n Beltr\u00e1n has since been spearheading the Cirug\u00eda Segura Ya (Safe Surgery Now) movement that promotes solidarity among victims of malpractice and raises awareness about the serious shortcomings of plastic surgery regulation in Colombia.<\/p>\n Salgado, her daughter and cousin unwittingly took a wrong turn when they went to Colombia for their plastic surgeries, falling into the hands of medical amateurs operating on the dark side of a booming business.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a nightmare,\u201d said Fernandez. \u201cFor this doctor, I wish the best for him \u2014 that nobody dies on him.\u201d[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav prev_text=”Part 1: Popularization” _builder_version=”3.0.106″][\/et_pb_post_nav][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the blue-carpeted waiting room of Dr. Ernesto Barbosa, Monica Salgado folded both her hands over a left rib. After entering the clinic in the Colombian capital of Bogota, the 46-year-old woman from New Jersey doubled over in pain before gathering herself to walk across the room to take a seat. Salgado was wearing slacks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"project_category":[],"project_tag":[],"class_list":["post-78","project","type-project","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n