>>> MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT. MANY CONSIDER WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY. INCLUDING OUR NEXT GUESTS, WHO ARE SO DESPERATE, THEY TRAVELED OUTSIDE THE U.S. FOR MORE AFFORDABLE WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY. THEY ARE FAR FROM ALONE. THE CDC SAYS WEIGHT LOSS SURGERIES ARE NOW PART OF A WORLDWIDE, MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR, MEDICAL TOURISM INDUSTRY, THAT IS EXPECTED TO GROW SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE NEXT FIVE TO TEN YEARS. OUR GUESTS THEY WHILE THE WEIGHT DID COME OFF, THERE WERE UNEXPECTED AND DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES.
WATCH. >> MY WEIGHT PROBLEM STARTED IN HIGH SCHOOL. >> I'VE STRUGGLED WITH MY WEIGHT KIND OF ALL MY LIFE. >> I GOT UP TO ALMOST 300 POUNDS. >> I TRIED A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT THINGS TO LOSE IT. IT WAS A CONSTANT BATTLE. >> MY STEP-MOM, LIZ, HAD COME BACK FROM SURGERY. SHE LOST ALL THE WEIGHT. I SAW THAT, AND I'M LIKE, I WANT TO BE THIN AGAIN. >> THERE'S NO WAY I COULD AFFORD THE OPTIONS IN THE STATES. I'M A SINGLE MOM WITH TWO KIDS.
>> I SAW IT AS THE MAGIC BULLET. >> FIRST THING I CAN REMEMBER COMING OUT OF SURGERY, THAT I WAS IN HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PAIN. ALL OF A SUDDEN, I FELT SOMETHING WET ON MY STOMACH. I LOOKED DOWN. I WAS BLEEDING FROM MY STOMACH. I LITERALLY NEVER THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET HOME TO SEE MY SONS AND MY MOM EVER AGAIN. >> THE ISSUES WITH ME CAME WITH AFTERCARE. >> THAT'S WHAT THEY DIDN'T TELL YOU. THEY DIDN'T TELL YOU HOW IMPORTANT THE AFTERCARE WAS. >> IT NEEDS CONSTANT MAINTENANCE. FILLS AND ADJUSTMENTS, ALL SORTS OF THINGS. >> TWO WEEKS LATER, I COLLAPSED. I WAS AT WORK. I COLLAPSED. THEY GOT ME INTO THE CT SCAN. THEY HAD SEEN MY SPLEEN HAD BEEN CUT. I WENT HOME THAT NIGHT, AND I WAS LITERALLY CRAWLING FROM THE BATHROOM INTO MY BED.
I WAS PRAYING, HEAVENLY FATHER, THAT I DIDN'T DIE IN FRONT OF MY BABY. >> THE EMOTIONAL PART I DON'T THINK REALLY STARTED UNTIL I LOST MY STEP-MOM. HER BAND ERODED THROUGH HER STOMACH, AND HER STOMACH LEAKED ACID ON TO HER HEART AND LUNG. >> MY STOMACH WAS WIDE OPEN. ANYTHING I WAS INGESTING WAS GOING INTO MY STOMACH, AS WELL. >> I HAD TROUBLE BREATHING AT NIGHT SOMETIMES. I THINK THE WORST PART FOR ME IS THE NIGHTMARES.
>> THE MORE YOU GET INTO IT, THE MORE IT STARTS TO AFFECT YOUR BODY PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, THERE IS ALWAYS THE THOUGHT, THIS ISN'T RIGHT. THIS ISN'T RIGHT. THIS ISN'T RIGHT. >> THEY DIAGNOSED WITH PTSD. I NEVER EVEN KNEW WHAT PTSD WAS UNTIL THIS. I RE-LIVE MEXICO IN MY HEAD EVERY NIGHT. NOT KNOWING IF I WAS GOING TO GET OUT OF THERE OR NOT. >> JOINING ME NOW, JESSICA, JUSTIN BLACKBURN AND CARSON MILLER. THANK YOU, ALL, SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. LET'S JUST START WITH WHERE YOU WERE, YOU KNOW, WEIGHT WISE, WHEN YOU MADE THIS DECISION.
IT'S A DRAMATIC, DRASTIC DECISION, TO HAVE WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTRY, IN PARTICULAR. WHY DID YOU DO IT, JESSICA? WHERE WERE YOU PHYSICALLY? >> PHYSICALLY, I JUST WASN'T WHERE I WANTED TO BE. MY LEGS WERE HURTING. I LOVED TO PLAY SPORTS. I'M VERY ACTIVE. THAT WAS ONE OF MY BIGGEST DECISIONS. I'M GOING TO GET IT BECAUSE MY KNEES AND MY ANKLES WERE HURTING. >> HOW HEAVY WERE YOU AT YOUR HEAVIEST? >> I WEIGHED 251 POUNDS. >> OKAY. INSURANCE WAS NOT AN OPTION TO COVER THIS? >> NO. THIS IS COSMETIC, MOSTLY, SO INSURANCE DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT.
>> SOME INSURANCE COMPANIES SOMETIMES WILL, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT IS THE EXCEPTION AND NOT THE RULE, TO GETTING THIS. SAME BOAT, YOU COULDN'T GET INSURANCE TO COVER IT IN THE U.S.? JUSTIN, HOW ABOUT YOU? HOW LARGE DID YOU GET, AND WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE YOU SAY, I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING? >> AT THE HIGHEST POINT, I WAS PROBABLY ABOUT 300 POUNDS. I LOVE TO SKI. THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS. THE SALESPEOPLE FOR THE MEXICAN SURGEONS, THEY LOVE THAT. THEY LOVE ACTIVE PEOPLE LIKE JESS, CARSON AND MYSELF. THAT'S ONE THING EASY TO SELL. WE ALL HAD KNEE PROBLEMS, OR WE WERE ALL HAVING PROBLEMS RELATED TO THAT BECAUSE WE WANTED TO BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE.
THE WEIGHT MAKES IT DIFFICULT. YOU START HAVING PRESSURE ON YOUR KNEES, HAVING PAIN. >> THEY KNOW HOW TO LURE YOU? >> EXACTLY RIGHT. >> SAME FOR YOU, CARSON? >> YEAH. I WAS AN EX-HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE. RIGHT AFTER THAT, I GOT — I KEPT EATING THE SAME WAY, BUT I WASN'T AT PHYSICALLY ACTIVE. I GOT UP TO 295 POUNDS. THE DAY OF THE SURGERY, I WAS 285. >> WAS THERE ANY HESITATION? IT'S NOT UNKNOWN THAT THERE ARE RISKS IN GOING TO MEXICO OR SOUTH OF THE BORDER IN GENERAL FOR ANY SORT OF SURGERY. SO HOW DID YOU EVALUATE THAT IN YOUR MINDS? >> FOR ME, MY STEPMOTHER, LIZ, HAD JUST GONE DOWN TO MEXICO. SHE HAD THE SURGERY DONE ABOUT SIX MONTHS BEFORE I HAD MY SURGERY. ME, CARSON, LIZ AND I WENT ON A SKI TRIP TOGETHER.
LIZ LOOKED AMAZING. SHE DROPPED ABOUT 50 POUNDS. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I REALLY SAW HER BACK TO HER OLD SELF. SHE WAS A NURSE. SHE TOLD ME, OH, THE CLINIC IS BEAUTIFUL. THE CLINIC, YOU KNOW, IS AS SAFE AS ANY CLINIC IN THE COLITIS. >> THE DIFFERENCE FINANCIALLY BETWEEN HERE AND THERE WAS WHAT? >> ABOUT 1/3 OF THE COST. >> 1/3 OF THE COST. ABOUT $24,000 HERE? DOWN HERE, AROUND $8,000? >> I PAID $6,300 FOR MY SURGERY. >> $6,300. >> $4,700. >> IT'S CHEAP. DEFINITELY CHEAP BY, YOU KNOW, AMERICAN STANDARDS. BUT THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT. >>> UP NEXT, JESSICA WAKES UP FROM SURGERY, AND THE >>> LOSE THE WEIGHT FAST FOR HALF THE PRICE OR 1/3 OF THE PRICE.
IT IS A TEMPTING PROMISE FOR MANY AMERICANS BATTLING OBESITY. THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT OUR GUESTS TODAY HOPED FOR BY TRAVELING TO MEXICO FOR WEIGHT LOSS SURGERIES. BACK WITH WE NOW, JESSICA, JUSTIN BLACKBURN AND CARSON MILLER. JESSICA, I'LL START WITH YOU. YOU WAKE UP IN MEXICO, HAVING HAD — WHERE IN MEXICO? >> TIJUANA. >> HAVING HAD THE SURGERY. YOU'RE IN INTENSE PAIN AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP. TELL US WHAT YOU SAW AND FELT. >> PROBABLY ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER I GOT OUT OF SURGERY, I'VE NEVER FELT PAIN LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE. I WAS THINKING TO MYSELF, I HAVE TWO CHILDREN. I'VE HAD SURGERIES BEFORE.
I WAS THINKING, WHAT IN THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME? I COULDN'T EVEN TELL YOU HOW MUCH PAIN I WAS IN. ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, ALL OF A SUDDEN, I LOOK DOWN, AND I FELT SOMETHING WET. MY STOMACH WAS BLEEDING. THEY CAME IN, AND THEY SAID IT WAS NORMAL. THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ROOM WITH ME. I HAD TWO OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAD JUST GOTTEN THE SURGERY DONE, AS WELL. THEY WEREN'T BLEEDING. IF IT IS NORMAL, WHY AREN'T THEY BLEEDING? THEY RELEASE YOU. YOU CAN ONLY BE IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 24 HOURS.
THEN THEY RELEASE YOU INTO A HOTEL, WHERE SUPPOSEDLY, THERE'S REGISTERED NURSES AND, YOU KNOW, A DOCTOR IF ANYTHING HAPPENS. WELL, I PUT ON A HOODIE AND SWEATS, AND I LAID DOWN TO GO TO SLEEP. I DIDN'T SLEEP THE WHOLE ENTIRE NIGHT. I WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN. I WOKE UP TO GET A LEAK TEST. THEY WERE TAKING ME TO TAKE THIS LEAK TEST.
