It sounds like going to Mexico is a popular option...I am skeptical but intrigued. Is this safe? What happens if there are complications and you need to be readmitted, will insurance pay for it? How much cheaper is it?
@CaitlynR, I felt very safe personally in Mexico and professionally with Sauceda. My results are great. Not perfection, but great. He is an excellent surgeon.
If there were complications, I know that Sauceda would help, but many cannot go back to Mexico. I see that
@Munchkin mentioned an option of buying insurance just for that purpose.
I took almost all of the stitches out myself. Not difficult, but a slow process. The only area I couldn't reach was a small section in my back for the LBL incision. My PCP removed those stitches. I had two small seromas (very common), golf ball sized; they did not open any incision lines and they resolved themselves.
After surgery I had significant lymphedema in one leg. Once I was home, insurance covered doctor visits and custom made compression socks. I still have some on and off swelling that is managed with the socks.
The cost for plastics was much less than half of the estimates I got in the US. But as I noted, my main reasons for going to Sauceda was his excellent reputation, getting multiple procedures in one surgery, and the included aftercare.
My plastics were in 2012. At the time there was an active Sauceda group on Obesity Help. It looks like it is not that active, but reading back through old posts should provide lots of information.
I found a local surgeon to do my lower body (in IL). But I traveled to Iowa for my upper body/arms/back. 
