Mom who lost fingers in tummy tuck blunder warns of medical tourism days after Americans kidnapped in Mexico
Shannyn Palmer went to Mexico in search of a firmer body after having her third child. She returned badly burned and in need of multiple amputations.
Palmer, 36, paid $12,500 last August for a “mommy makeover,” including a tummy tuck, abdominal muscle repair, a chest lift and fat transfer to her hips.
She first researched the board-certified surgeon, Dr. Mario Gonzalez, months in advance and felt confident heading into the procedure at The Beauty Hospital in Tijuana.
But Palmer, from Vancouver, Washington, knew something was immediately wrong when she awoke from anesthesia to feel her hands “basically burning,” she told The Post.
The stunned patient said the clinic’s staff told her that her hands were cold during the procedure, prompting a nurse to use heated saline bags to warm them up.
That alleged act left Palmer with second- and third-degree burns, leading to the partial amputation of her right thumb and left middle finger, she said.
“I never had any instinct that it would go wrong,” Palmer said. “I chose a really good surgeon; he never had any bad results and had a good portfolio. This definitely just did not work out for me at all.”
Cosmetic surgery is extremely popular in Mexico, where four Americans were kidnapped over the weekend — and two were killed — while on a trip there for one of the survivors Latavia McGee, to get a tummy tuck.
Some 1.2 million total surgical and non-surgical procedures were performed in 2021, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
That total was surpassed only by three other countries: the United States (7,347,900), Brazil (2,723,640) and Japan (1,270,605), data shows.
Botox, hyaluronic acid skin treatments and hair removal were the most common procedures in Mexico in 2021.
Worldwide, liposuction, breast augmentations and eyelid surgeries led the way — with a 19.3% increase in total procedures compared to 2020, according to ISAPS.
Some clinics in Mexico City advertise tummy tucks for as low as $3,500. For just $300 more, patients at TopPlasticSurgeonsMexico.com also receive a weeklong hotel stay, a bilingual assistant and pre- and post-op consultations.
The practice is one of Mexico’s top medical tourism destinations, according to its website.
Health and Wellness Bazaar, a San Diego-based medical group, claims that traveling to Mexico for a tummy tuck — with fees starting at $5,500 — can save patients up to 60%.
“In the past, it was common for people from less developed countries, perhaps with poor medical services, to travel to countries with more advanced technologies and better services to obtain surgery or procedure that was not accessible in their home country,” the website reads. “But these days, hundreds of patients from countries such as the United States, Canada, or Europe have found it very convenient to travel to other countries to obtain medical services and surgeries, such as the tummy tuck in Mexico.”
Palmer said she had wanted a “mommy makeover” for years and finally decided to act after being diagnosed last year with kidney cancer, which has since gone into remission.
Cost was a major motivating factor to go to Mexico after maxing out her insurance, she said.
“It depends on the area and the surgeon, of course, but had I stayed in Washington, it would’ve been around $20,000 to $25,000,” Palmer said. “Some ladies have had mommy makeovers in the $35,000-plus range.”
The average cost of a tummy tuck is $6,100 in the US, according to the most recent stats from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
That figure doesn’t include anesthesia, operating room fees or other related expenses.
Palmer, a retention specialist for UPS, missed roughly five months from her job before fully returning to work last week.
She advised other Americans thinking about travel to Mexico for plastic surgery to consider other options.
“Going under the knife can be dangerous,” Palmer said. “But if you’re going to do a cosmetic procedure, stay in the US because going through the courts will be a lot easier and if anything does go wrong, you’ll have access to your surgeon here.
Palmer said she is is no longer able to play the piano or sew like she once enjoyed.
“Not only am I a mom of three,” she said, “I’m also an artist and I do a lot of costume design, so I use my hands for literally everything.”
Her children were also mortified by her blackened fingers, which were amputated in the United States following last-ditch hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Oregon to save them, she said.
“My boys thought I was turning into a zombie when my fingers were turning black,” she said. “So I had to explain to them, ‘No, I’m not a zombie.’”
She added that she had to relearn how to accomplish basic tasks like housework and simply holding her daughter.
“There’s a lot of things I couldn’t do at first,” Palmer said, adding she improves daily. “Now they’re thinking I’m like a superhero mom looking at the prosthetics that I’m trying on.”
But Palmer’s children still ask if her fingers will ever return — a tough reality to face, she said.
“No, that’s not how it works,” she recalled telling them. “I’m permanently disfigured for the rest of my life.”
The rest of the procedure went as planned, Palmer said, highlighting the risk involved of going under the knife for any reason.
“Had this not happened to my hands, I’d be very happy,” she said. “But this is a life-altering experience. I still haven’t come to terms with how this will affect me for the rest of my life.”
Palmer is now planning to sue Dr. Gonzalez, who primarily practices out of Guadalajara, as well as his clinic and medical team. Attempts to reach the surgeon at his clinic Tuesday were unsuccessful.
