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 Didi. 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 Didi 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.

    Secure Your Surgery Date

  • Once you are ready to discuss booking a date for surgery with Dr. Lev please contact Didi, Dr. Lev's Patient Coordinator, and she will get back to you within a day or two.

    Patient's Medical History

  • Please fill out your medical history review located here: Patient's Medical History. It is very important that Dr. Lev have this information early on in the process for your well being and to ensure a great outcome of your anticipated procedure.

    Medications

  • Since antibiotics are quite costly in Costa Rica if you can get your personal doctor to prescribe an antibiotic for you, here's what Dr. Lev wants you to get. Some people have allergies so read the following four options and decide which one suits you best. Read More >>

    Xarelto 5 mg

  • Please get a prescription from your doctor for Xarelto 2.5 mg. Here is the dosage, the strength and how Dr. Lev wants you to use it. 1. Take 5 mg of Xarelto (2 X 2.5 mg pills) the night before OR the morning of your flight 2. Do not take any more Xarelto after the first dose before the flight, until Dr. Lev gives you instructions when to start it again after surgery 3. When you are instructed to start the Xarelto again after surgery, you need to take two 2.5 Xarelto pills each day for 10 days 4. You will need a prescription for 22 pills total (5mg per day for ten days and 5 mg before your flight to Costa Rica) Note: Xarelto doesn't come in 5 mg pills. They come in 2.5 mg pills, so you need to take 2 X 2.5 mg pills together (5mg total) for 10 days once Dr. Lev tells you to start it.

    Make An Appointment With A Dermatologist

  • 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.

    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 Didi at trlwd2@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

  • (Patients REALLY need to read this before you book a date with Dr. Lev)

    Once you are booked you need to send in a "semi-refundable" $1000 deposit within 8 days of my confirming your booking. What we mean by a "semi-refundable" deposit is that there is only one way to insure the maximum refund of 90% of your deposit, which I will explain below (see item #1).  Please understand that Dr. Lev is the only surgeon doing your surgery. He also is only doing a maximum of 2 facelifts a week. That is why it's not cool to take a date, hold on to it so that we take it out of the schedule book, thereby rendering it unavailable to others, and then if you decide to cancel less than 3 weeks before surgery, Dr. Lev, the anesthesiologist, the clinic and the O.R. assistant all lose income if that date can't be rescheduled to another patient. You need to understand up front that there is a penalty for that. Here's how this deposit thing works with our "semi-refundable" deposit rule.

    1.  No matter what, when or how you cancel,  you will lose 10% of your deposit. 

    2. To insure a 90% deposit refund, if you can't come for some reason or you just change your mind more than 3 weeks away from your surgery date, we will refund 90% of your deposit. It would be best if you are sure when you take a date for surgery that you want to do this surgery with Dr. Lev. Don't just take a date and hold on to it on a "maybe" basis. You need to be sure of your decision to move forward with Dr. Lev as your surgeon before you send your deposit.

    3. If you cancel too close to your surgery date and we can't rebook your date, but you want to book a new date you will lose half of your deposit and to get another date you will have to send another $500 to get back to the required initial $1000 deposit. In other words you will lose $500 if you cancel 3 weeks or less from the date of your surgery and we can't rebook it.

    4. If you want to move your date to another date and it's more than 3 weeks prior to your booked surgery date when you cancel or change, we will move your full $1000 deposit to the new date*. If you cancel or ask to move to another date a second time, we will give you another date, but you will lose 100% of your first deposit. If you want another date you will have to send in another "semi-refundable" $1000 deposit. 

    5. If you want to cancel your surgery and not rebook another date, please let us know asap and we will try to rebook the date to someone else. And remember, if it's 3 weeks or less before your surgery date when you cancel and you don't want to rebook the surgery,  you will lose the entire deposit. If it's more than the 3 weeks prior to your surgery date, and we can rebook the date, we will refund 90% of your deposit.

    Please folks, if you're not coming, for any reason, even if you haven't sent in your deposit, PLEASE email Didi to cancel as soon as possible. We need your date for someone else.

    * This is the only way to keep the full value of your deposit. 

    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 Didi 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 Didi 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