Quebec woman’s botched breast lift in Colombia highlights dangers of cosmetic surgery tourism

A Quebec woman is warning against cosmetic surgery tourism after she traveled to Colombia to get a breast lift because it was cheaper.

She now calls the decision the worst decision of her life.

Five years ago, Alexandra Denis-Broubeau discovered she had a benign tumor in one of her breasts and was put on a waiting list for surgery that could take four to five years.

She decided to go private and found out that the cost of removing the tumor along with the breast lift was about $16,000.

A friend suggested she have the procedure in Colombia.

“When you go to the store and have to choose between two apples, you usually choose the cheaper one, so that’s why I made this decision,” she said.

The surgery in Colombia cost only $3,000, but she quickly realized that the two options were not apples to apples.

Denis-Broubet said her body rejected the non-absorbable stitches. (Photo submitted by herself)
“When I got back to Quebec, all the problems came together,” she said.

The surgeon had used non-absorbable stitches, which her body began to reject. The stitches kept coming out of the open wounds one after the other.

“All my scars were open, and it took five months for them to close,” she said.

At the same time, she was also dealing with complications from another procedure, a Brazilian butt lift (BBL).

The infection caused severe bruising on her buttocks and abdomen.

“Ninety percent of patients who come in with complications from plastic surgery are related to procedures done abroad,” said plastic surgeon Dr. Hani Sino.

Sino is not involved in Denise-Broubet’s case, but she says the trend of beauty tourism, popularized on social media, has led to an increase in hospitalizations due to complications.

“That’s not to say that complications don’t happen in Canada and Montreal, but foreign patients don’t get adequate post-operative care and the types of complications are different,” she added.

Denise-Broubet says her decision to save money ended up hurting her more than she could have imagined, both physically and emotionally.

“I’m dealing with it,” she said, “but I really want to tell my story so other women don’t have to go through the same pain.”

Since then, she has had two more surgeries and still has at least one more to go.

She estimates the total cost of the treatment has come to more than $40,000.

“It was probably the biggest mistake I ever made in my life,” she said.

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