MTY’s Director, Alan Graham, whose father was an amputee says, “The old-fashioned sleeve procedure is outdated. This forward-thinking breakthrough gives new hope to America’s amputees. We can now bring patients to Merida at huge surgical and hospital savings.”

Copying the dental implant model, surgery is a 2-stage process: the implant (Endo) - then 6 weeks later - the attachment prosthesis (Exo). The Endo-prosthesis is implanted directly into the thigh bone. The Exo-prosthesis is securely attached or removed easily in minutes. A radical departure from the conventional sleeve prosthesis, the weight load is transferred directly from the bone to the prosthesis allowing the hip and femur to absorb the pressure. This allows for better mobility and balance.

The Merida patient, Pennsylvanian Uta Burrelli, lost her leg last year, “After the 1st stage I regained my will to live. Now after the 2nd stage I’m very happy. I got up on my legs just hours after surgery. I named my new leg, Super Heidi.”

MTY offers all-inclusive packages for Canadians and Americans to Merida, Yucatan for this procedure. Including complete Medical and Non-medical arrangements, excluding airfare, for 2 trips for both stages, the cost range is $42,000 - $57,000. The patient’s medical situation, selection of Exo-prosthesis, and other factors determine the final cost.

His interest sparked by seeing an implant prosthesis patient at a Boston medical conference, Merida’s Dr. Reyes De Caceres trained in Lubeck, Germany for the procedure. On the cutting-edge of this technology in North America he emphasizes, “Patients who qualify for this surgery have had amputation secondary to trauma, cancer, or vascular causes in some cases. Endo-Exo prosthetic surgery is not suited for those with diabetes, lupus, and other conditions.”

Concerning possible U.S. approval, Dr. Aschoff, the German surgeon offers, “Who knows when the procedure will be approved in the U.S. The American establishment loves the idea and thinks it is a great invention. But it is not an ‘American’ invention.” Aschoff will be published this fall in the prestigious American and British medical journal, The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

MTY’s Patient Care Facilitator and former Veterans Administration Specialist, Mike Riniolo asserts, “The advantages of this advanced medical prosthesis can have immediate application for the thousands of amputees back from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.”

Merida, Yucatan, Mexico – July 9, 2010

Medical Traveler Yucatan (MTY), a team of American and Canadian medical tourism facilitators, has forged a new alliance with a Utah clinic network. MediCruiser Family Practice, of Salt Lake City, will begin referring U.S. patients to MTY for surgery in Merida, Yucatan. The partnership was begun in response to the large number of under-insured and uninsured Americans seeking needed surgery or elective procedures but unable to afford it. www.medicaltraveleryucatan.com

Merida resident and American Alan Graham, the founder and director of MTY and former non-profit executive states, “It just doesn’t make good sense, health-wise and money-wise for patients to be deprived of a new heart valve or shoulder surgery. Or pay two to four times what they should for gastric bypass surgery or a face-lift or even dental implants, when Merida is less than a 2-hour flight from Houston.”

Dr. Paul Gahlinger, CEO of MediCruiser, and University of Utah School of Medicine physician agrees, “The solution is services like MTY -- high quality, respectable and reliable.”

MTY matches medical travelers with board certified, English-speaking surgeons who have had training, continuing education, or affiliations in the United States. MTY conducts consumer evaluations of the selected hospital to insure superior medical care for patients.

Patients traveling to Merida for medical care through MTY can expect substantial savings of 35% - 75%. Medical travelers discover that they are informed of hospital and surgery costs – before they decide on their surgical trip. Since the American-Canadian MTY team is located in Merida, the company has the advantage of maintaining personal contact with hospital administrators and individual doctors.

Continues MTY’s Graham, “Here in Merida our close relationships allow us to be effective in negotiating the very best surgery and hospital fees for our patients – without sacrificing the highest level of medical quality.” Besides authoring a series of articles on medical tourism, Graham has received all of his medical and dental care here in Merida, Yucatan - including major surgery – for the last half-decade.

Made up of an American-Canadian team living and working in Merida - near Cancun – Medical Traveler Yucatan, MTY, provides all-inclusive organizing of medical procedures and medical tourism trip services. Surgery is scheduled in a timely fashion at a world-class hospital and at substantial savings. The MTY team coordinates and oversees all hospital and medical surgery trip details in person. Unique in its approach, the U.S.-Canadian team meets patients at the airport and accompanies them throughout their medical stay.

Medical Traveler Yucatan is partnered with Merida’s Star Medica Hospital, a new state of the art, pristine, high-tech facility. It is the number one choice for thousands of Canadians and Americans who live in Merida. Star Medica is a current applicant for the prestigious JCI-accreditation.

Medical tourism is growing by more than 30% each year. By 2015 it is estimated that between 10 and 20 million Americans and Canadians will travel outside of their country for medical care.

MTY team members make all medical arrangements, in-person. Patients can expect their experience in cosmetic, weight loss, orthopedic, oncology, cardiovascular, fertility, vision, or dental procedures to be equal to – and usually better than at home. And MTY also coordinates non-medical arrangements including transportation, hotel, patient monitoring, communicating with patient’s family, and meeting special needs. Patients are met at the airport by their countrymen who accompany them throughout their medical stay.

As for safety, patients can be reassured that Merida, with a metropolitan area of just over a million (including the nearly 10,000 Americans and Canadians who live in Merida and the state of Yucatan), enjoys a reputation as being a very safe city. Merida’s distinct geographic advantage – far away from the violence of other North American cities - contributes to its standing as a city where you can still stroll the streets at night.

Medical Traveler Yucatan (MTY) is located in Merida, Yucatan near Cancun and is a quick flight from most U.S. and Canadian cities. Quality care, substantial savings, safety, and easy access make medical trips to Merida a practical decision. This, combined with the fact that MTY’s U.S.- Canadian team is on-location at the patient’s destination, presents new options to Americans and Canadians seeking sound medical solutions.