Step-By-Step Checklist
NOTE- This is a step by step checklist that (hopefully) will guide you through the entire ¨getting ready to go to Costa Rica¨ process. Do not begin the "getting ready" process until you have secured a date for surgery with Dr. Alejandro Lev. In addition please please make sure you understand all the costs involved in your trip. You don't want to go through all the getting ready stuff only to figure out in the end that it's going to cost more than you had thought. Check with Dr. Lev to make sure you understand all the costs. She can give you an approximate estimate so there are no surprises in the end.
Passport
You will need a passport to enter Costa Rica. Check to make sure that your passport is in order. If it is going to expire within 3 months of your trip, you need to renew it or you may have problems entering Costa Rica.
- Once you are ready to discuss booking a date for surgery with Dr. Lev please email on dr.alejandrolev@gmail.com, and Dr. Lev will get back to you within a day or two.
Secure Your Surgery Date
- Before your surgery, it is strongly advised that you make an appointment with a dermatologist and have your facial skin checked out for signs of skin cancer. If there is skin cancer on the face, Dr. Lev cannot proceed with the surgery. It's a good idea not to take chances and have that checkup by a dermatologist.
Make An Appointment With A Dermatologist
Pre Operation Required Testing
Make an appointment for your pre-op physical (click here to read Dr. Lev's preop required tests list and bring it with you to your doctor when you go in for your tests).
For L.A. people, if you don't have a regular doctor, you can use Dr. Laurie Musto in Pacific Palisades (310) 454-1212. Dr. Musto is familiar with the "drill" for people going to see Dr. Lev in Costa Rica. Please note that Dr. Lev suggests that you may want to bring your own meds with you so ask Dr. Musto or whatever doctor you see for your pre-op tests to give you prescriptions for pain, sleep and relaxation before you leave their office.
If your doctor prefers not to prescribe meds for you to take with you, don't worry. Dr. Lev will prescribe meds for you for pain and sleep upon request. You will actually automatically get pain meds in your little "take home packet" when you leave the hospital to be brought back to the recovery facility.
Your pre-op medical tests are usually not covered by insurance and can cost anywhere between $350 and $500 however there have been a number of Kaiser patients who have had most of their preop tests covered under their Kaiser plan. Also, ask the doctors if it's possible to get any of your visit covered under insurance.
Dr. Lev requires that the preop tests be taken within ONE month of your scheduled surgery date.
Please make sure that you or your doctor scan and send your test results to Dr. Lev at dr.alejandrolev@gmail.com as soon as possible. Add a little note to the tests that state your name, surgery date and the type of surgery you will be having.
Please ask your doctor to read your tests and determine whether or not he or she feels you are okay to go ahead with surgery. If something shows up that precludes you from having surgery it's best to find this out before you get to Costa Rica.
If you are willing to take a chance and have your medical tests done in Costa Rica, ask the people at your recovery retreat of choice if they would kindly arrange for your tests to be done when you arrive. Both recovery places we recommend have labs they use for this purpose. The only downside to having the tests done down there is that should something come up in the test results that preclude you from having surgery Dr. Lev won't do the surgery until the situation is remedied. But if you do have the tests done down there when you arrive, the results will be ready in a couple of hours and sent over directly to Dr. Lev by the time you have your consultation appointment in the afternoon.
Important Phone Numbers
Click here for important numbers to carry with you in your purse when you go to Costa Rica. Print out and clip these numbers and put them in your purse. Keep them handy the whole time you're there....just in case.
Recovery Retreats
Please remember that you must book your own recovery retreat, Didi does not do this for you. She will be most happy to help you and answer your questions.
Please choose one of the recovery places we recommend. There are descriptions of each place. See which one "speaks to you" and fill out the easy form at the end of each description. We feel that these facilities are excellent, experienced in plastic surgery after-care and offer the patients a great deal for the money.
One quick important note about money and recovery retreats. When you book a room at any of the recovery retreats in Costa Rica, the policy is that you pay in advance for all the days you are booking and if you should decide to leave earlier than your booking checkout date, you will NOT get a refund on the unused days. Just like you wouldn't get back your rent money on an apartment if you decided to move out a week earlier than originally planned. In essence you are "renting" the room at the recovery retreat and the time you rent it for is yours and yours alone. You are free to leave earlier, but you still pay for those unused days. Sorry to be repetitive, but it's important that before you book and pay in advance for your recovery place, you know the policy about money.
Airline Reservations
Make your airline reservations as early as possible to get the best fare. Although the fares change all the time so hopefully you will get lucky with a lower fare if you call on the right day.
Required Length of Stay
Facelift and breast reduction/lift patients need to stay a full two weeks after their surgery. Patients having a tummy tuck need to stay three weeks after surgery. If you are having two surgeries, you'll need to extend your postop stay accordingly.
In some rare instances a tummy tuck patient will need to go home with the drain still in place even after three weeks and so tummy tuck patients are encouraged to arrange in advance someone in your local area at home who will agree to see you postop "just in case" to remove the drain. Of course, if you can be flexible with your return home, you might want to just extend your stay at the recovery facility in Costa Rica until Dr. Lev can safely remove the drain.
Other minor surgeries, like nose, eyes, ears, breast implants need to stay for ten or twelve days after surgery. Of course, Dr. Lev says that the longer you can stay after your surgery, the better it will be for you in the long run. The healing process for any procedure no matter how extensive takes a full six months even though you will most likely look presentable after just a couple of weeks.
Deposit and Cancelation Policy
We have updated our deposit requirement. Please read through the following and please pay attention to this information. It's important that you read this before I give you a surgery date.
Here are the 6 new requirements for deposits.
1. The new deposit fee is $1500 which, as always, is applied against the surgery fees when you book a date and come for the surgery.
2. You can change your date once and have the entire $1500 moved to a new date, no penalty.
3. If you change your date a second time asking for a third date, you are penalized $500 and must send an additional $500 to bring your deposit back up to $1500.
4. If you cancel and don't rebook, you will be reimbursed $1000 of your $1500 deposit.
5. If you book a date and don't send the deposit within 8 days of receiving the confirmation form, we will give that date to someone else. You will be automatically removed from that date. If you need a few more days to gather the funds, we understand this and will give you up to an extra 5 days to send the deposit. But you need to clear that with me first or you will be removed from the date.
6. If you book a date, send the deposit within the required 8 days and then cancel without booking another date you will receive back $1000 of your deposit, forfeiting $500.
For returning surgery patients Only:
(This does NOT apply to new patients coming for surgery with returning patients).
Your deposit will remain at $1000 and you only lose $100 if you cancel without rebooking. We'll be happy to move 100% of your deposit to a second date without penalty. But if you change again, asking for a third date, you will be penalized $500, unless there's an illness or family emergency. We can discuss these things should they occur. And if this is the case, we'll give you one more date without penalty. But even if you cancel due to an illness or family emergency, without rebooking, you will forfeit $100, receiving back $900.
There's a very good reason for the new, more stringent rules. We're doing our best to only work with people who are serious and committed to this process. Specifically, patients who are coming to have their surgery with Dr. Lev, not just shopping around for the cheapest surgeon. If that's the case with you, then we are not a good fit for you, and I'm telling you this upfront to save us all (the patient, Dr. Lev and me) a lot of hours and hours of unnecessary time and effort.If you are serious and committed, I will work with you with TLC and be there for you always just an email away throughout this entire amazing, life-altering journey.
We don't want to lose you as a patient, of course, but we are willing to lose any patients who are Unwilling or Unable to follow Dr. Lev’s new deposit protocols.
Regardless of how this works out for us all, we do want to wish you the best, as well as the good health with which to enjoy all the blessings in your life.
Dental Opportunity
If you would like an appointment with the dentist, Dra. Telma Rubinstein, for a checkup, laser whitening or any other dental work, please let Dr. Lev know well in advance of your trip so she can set up an appointment for you for the day you arrive.
If you decide to have dental work done that requires preparation, like crowns, veneers, bridge work, etc., Dra. Rubinstein or her husband/partner, Dr. Josef Cordero can do the prep work the day before your surgery with Dr. Lev and then a couple of days before you leave Costa Rica you will go back to have all the finished work installed.
For your convenience you can click here and fill out this quick form and with the simple click of the "send now" button, your inquiry will be sent directly to Dra. Rubinsteins's office. Someone will get back to you within a week of receiving your form. This is a quicker way to get a response to your questions and check on availability.
Once you've set a date and time for your dental appointment, please notify Dr. Lev as to the time of your appointment so she can put it in with your file and in the schedule book as a backup.
Patients with breast implants please note: It is VERY important to note that if you have any sort of implants (facial, breast, etc.) you must consult with your dentist to see if you will need to "premedicate" before you have any invasive dental work done, including cleanings.
Want to brush up on your Spanish?
If you want to do a little brushing up on your Spanish with the help of some wonderful people I know in San Jose who run a language school there, you can log on to www.conversaconmigo.com and do a little studying on line with them. It might be fun to learn a little Spanish while you're at it, although everyone on our team down there speaks English so you won't "need" to know Spanish at all. But it is an opportunity if you'd be interested in giving Spanish a try. My friends David and Andy Kaufman over at Conversa School will be happy to help you. They'll even chat with you on line if you want. Just log on to www.conversaconmigo.com