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Tameka Raymond (Usher’s Wife) Suffers Cosmetic Surgery Cardiac Arrest
By admin | March 2, 2009
Recently the newspapers were filled with whatever sketchy details were available. What we know is that Tameka Raymond went to Brazil to have liposuction two months after giving birth. Prior to the beginning of the actual surgery, Ms. Raymond suffered a cardiac arrest. She was placed in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital in which she was to have the surgery and a day later was transferred to a major medical facility in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
There were reports that an American neurosurgeon was summoned and flew immediately to evaluate Ms. Raymond who had been placed in a state of “induced coma” to hopefully minimize brain and/or heart damage suffered when her heart stopped.
This story is illustrative of several issues that I feel are worth examining.
First, the wisdom of leaving the United States for an elective procedure. Traveling for cosmetic surgery may have some benefits but also carries some risks that do not exist “at home.” Now, we are not privy to Ms. Raymond’s reasons for traveling to Brazil to have the procedure. Did she go there because she felt that a surgical procedure or technique was available in Brazil but not available in the United States? It is true that Brazilian cosmetic surgeons are a bit edgier than their American counterparts. Generally, it seems to us that they are comfortable taking on more aggressive – and hence riskier – surgical procedures. That may be attractive to some Americans who cannot find a surgeon here willing to perform a more ambitious procedure that the patient seeks.
Presumably, Ms. Raymond was not looking for a bargain. But, some Americans leave the U.S. is to save money. Brazil may not be the least expensive venue for cosmetic surgery, but many countries offer services at considerably less cost. But some of these countries verge on membership in the third world and, therefore, there are health and safety issues which should be addressed. There are tradeoffs for saving money in all things in life.
There has been speculation that Ms. Raymond left the country to avoid the paparazzi. That may well be. However, most high profile or celebrity people having cosmetic surgery can – with proper planning with the office staff – avoid the paparazzi. It is beyond the scope of this essay to describe the execution of such tactics, but “paparazzi evasion “is executed on a daily basis in Beverly Hills.
So what might have happened and what lessons may be gleaned from Ms. Raymond’s experience? First, we do not know how well she was “worked up” before the procedure. It is very important that a reasonable yet thorough medical examination be done for any elective surgery. There may be a consensus that eight weeks after delivery is not enough time for the body to reconstitute itself. Typically, body repair can take up to one hundred days after any operation or trauma. We do not know how the evaluation went but when in doubt, it is always better to postpone an elective procedure until well beyond a prior medical experience.
Recall that in 2004, when author of The First Wives Club, Olivia Goldsmith, died of an anesthetic mishap, prior to the start of a cosmetic procedure, The New York Times reported: The Health Department cited the hospital with failure to do thorough pre-operative work-up on Mrs. Goldsmith…… How well Ms. Raymond was evaluated by her doctor and another prior to scheduling the procedure is as yet unknown.
That leads us to the issue of anesthesia. Since what happened to Ms. Raymond was a direct consequence of anesthesia rather than surgery, the question is: “Who was at the controls?” Was it a doctor anesthesiologist whose credentials might match those of board certified American anesthesiologists? Was a nurse anesthetist in charge of anesthesia? Did the surgeon conduct the anesthetic? We do not know answers to that but we do know that the risk in elective surgery is from the anesthetic and not from the cutting and sewing.
As I discuss in my book, Secrets of a Beverly Hills Cosmetic Surgeon, when complications occur far from our shores, the mechanics and logistics of getting American-level care can be challenging. It, of course, depends on where one is. Brazil is not an unsophisticated country. But obviously the family felt more comfortable having consultation by an American brain specialist. Thus, prospective foreign-surgery patients need to consider the “what if” of a possible complication and how it might be managed. Also how long the patient might have to stay in that foreign country, and at what cost of dollars, inconvenience, stress for the family.
Traveling for cosmetic surgery is most typically done to save money. Whether for that reason or others, the decision to leave the US for such care carries additional risks.
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