Dr. Lev will not perform your surgery without my first receiving the signed waiver that releases me from any responsibility should some unforseen circumstance occur.

Once you have decided to go to Costa Rica for any medical procedure, please read, print out, sign and date the waiver and mail it to Didi Carr Reuben, 16019 W. Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades, CA 90272*. The wheels of motion in the process of preparing for your journey can not begin to turn until we receive the signed waiver.

Take photos of whatever you want the doctor to take a look at (for facelift patients, take close-ups of front and side views of your face) and send them to Dr. Lev either by email to levplast@racsa.co.cr (this is preferable and much faster) or to his Miami address (this method takes at least two weeks) to:

Dr. Alejandro Lev SJO  2789 P.O. Box 25331 Miami, Florida  33102-5331

With your photos, include a cover note introducing yourself and stating your scheduled surgery date. Make sure to send him your contact information so he knows how to get back in touch with you. If you are going on one of "Didi's trips", mention that in your cover note. This may get the doctor's attention a little faster.

*Please Note: Sending photos is optional, not mandatory and the final decision as to what you will have done in your surgery will ultimately be decided by both you and Dr. Lev after he sees you in person at your consultation the day before your surgery.

Make an appointment for your pre-op physical (print out the Pre-Op Required Test
from the website and bring it 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 Villa Plenitud recovery retreat.

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 TWO months of your scheduled surgery date, preferrably around six weeks before.

Please make sure to fax your preop test results or have your doctor fax them to Dr. Lev 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. Dr. Lev's fax number as dialed directly from the states is...011-506-22-32-4621.

Please ask your doctor to read your tests and determine whether or not he feels you are okay to go ahead with surgery. If something shows up that precludes you from having surgery on your scheduled date it's best to find this out before you get to Costa Rica.

Once you have your flight schedule set, you'll need to make your reservation at the Villa Plenitud Recovery Retreat Please call Ron, the owner/operator of the Villa Plenitud to give him your credit card number for a $200 deposit to hold your reservation. Also, at that time you can tell him when you'll be arriving in San Jose, Costa Rica, so he knows when to pick you up at the airport. For your convenience, there are two US phone numbers and one Canadian number you can dial to reach the Villa Plenitud. The US numbers is (310) 492-5529. From Canada dial (604) 484-5285. You can also email Ron at the Villa Plenitud at realme@racsa.co.cr. But he only accepts your deposit if you call with a credit card number. If the US numbers don't work, you can always use the direct number which is 011-506-22-49-1339, as dialed from the states.

Please note that as of 2005, the Villa Plenitud has put air conditioning in all of their rooms. The charges for the rooms are $110 a night (including all taxes) for a regular size room and $120 a night for a larger size "Deluxe" room. Make sure you specify which room you prefer when you call Ron with your deposit. There is an additional charge of $50 a night for an extra "non-patient" person sharing the room. If two patients share, the price is $180 a night for two.

Please note that your room charge includes three meals a day and transfers to and from the airport and the hospital only. If you require rides beyond the included roundtrip rides, like to other appointments you've made or to shopping or to other doctors or other visits to the hospital beyond your surgery dates with Dr. Lev, you will be expected to pay extra for those rides, over and above the daily room charge rate.

If the driver provided by the Villa Plenitud is not available when you need the ride, a taxi or private driver will be called for you which you will have to pay for on your own.

Villa Plenitud only accepts Visa credit cards. They do not accept Master Card, American Express or any other credit cards except for Visa. They also accept traveler's checks and of course, good ole green US cash. As as matter of fact, as a bonus for paying cash...you get a free 60 mnutes of calls to the US.

Please understand that you are not going to a resort or a spa. You are going to a recovery retreat with basic amenities, nothing fancy shmancy. There isn't a daily menu to choose from, but a daily set menu and no other choices. If you have any food or dietary issues you must tell the recovery retreat staff about them when you call to make your reservation.

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 retreat in Costa Rica until Dr. Lev can safely remove the drain.

Other minor surgeries, like nose, eyes, ears, breast implants need to stay for a week to 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.

Find the Patients' Guide Part 1 & 2 headings on the menu of the website. Read through everything carefully and thoroughly. This will give you suggestions for what to bring with you, how to handle payments, etc. This is an essential part of the "getting-ready" process.

Please note that Dr. Lev only accepts cash, cashier's checks or bank checks made out to Dr. Alejandro Lev as payment for his and the anesthesiologist's fees (the fee listed in the "Price List" on the website includes the anesthesiologist's fee).

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.

Great "Calling Home" news...You can now dial direct to the states from your room at the Villa Plenitud for only .50 a minute. That's a better price than any phone card I know of at the moment. If anyone out there hears of a better price than that, please feel free to contact me and let me know about it and I'll post it on the site.

Internet Usage

You can bring your laptop and hook into the internet from your room at the Villa Plenitud for a $3 an hour charge. He also has installed a desktop computer in the Multi-Purpose Room for people who don't have laptops...and the charge is also $3 an hour. If you buy three hours, the cost is $6, which brings the cost down to $2 an hour (but only for the desktop computer...the laptop usage from your room fee is still always $3 an hour).

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST....

We are asking people to please not hang on to a date for surgery when you aren't sure you can go. This is not considerate of others who want to go and need time to plan their trip. Dr. Lev and I spend a great deal of time figuring these group trips into both of our busy schedules and so the dates we settle on are precious and few and it is important for each person who takes possession of a date to be serious about their intention and desire to go to Costa Rica for surgery with Dr. Lev..

We've had a few instances over the years where a person holds on to the date until a month or even three weeks before the surgery and then cancels out because of cold feet or "something popped up" thereby not leaving enough time for the next person to plan their trip.

Of course this message does not apply to people who have valid reasons for cancelling out at the last minute..obviously. This message is for people who don't take this seriously and just sign up for the heck of it...and then forget about it.

So, I need you to please exercise some basic courtesy about these dates. Only sign on if you're serious and if you're not perfectly sure, just go ahead and hold the date for a month while you think about it and discuss it with your family.

If you're still feeling unsure after you've held the date for a month, please just contact me to release the date so someone else who is sure about going can have a chance to go in your place.