MANILA, Philippines ? This is not to say that ?the cure is worse than the disease,? but my sister Etta felt that's how it was after her lumpectomy and radiation therapy. She lost a lot of weight and had dark spots on her skin where the radiation hit her. Worse, the skin on her face sagged and the folds of her upper eyelids drooped to her eyes. With her eyebags sagging to her cheeks and the loose skin on her cheeks, she looked like an old hag.

My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer (stage 2) in late 2006. She underwent a quadrantectomy or partial mastectomy, the surgical removal of a four-centimeter lump, followed by radiation therapy. The surgery left a small hole in her chest and a concave spot in her armpit area where several lymph nodes were excised. Her cancer was detected during a routine examination. She was in her 40s, a mother to two boys, then aged 14 and 7, and a wife to a Belgian engineer whom she met during a fiesta in Dapitan City. He had travelled all the way from Saudi to become ?ninong? (godfather) to a child of a Pinoy co-worker and friend. My sister just happened to be attending the fiesta. They met, had a long-distance romance and married in Manila in 1992. They have been living in Brussels since then.

Although she was up and about just two weeks after her surgery, my sister's face fell like an empty sack, and suddenly our running gag about saving up for a facelift became a serious possibility. She and her two kids were due for a vacation in July 2007, something they did every two years. She wanted to include cosmetic surgery in their itinerary. She surfed the Net and found two websites that sounded interesting. Meanwhile, she also requested me to ask around. I did and found Dr. Raul Guanzon through my photographer friend Mandy Navasero.

Navasero had known Dr. Guanzon for years and attested to his skills as a cosmetic surgeon. But reading brochures and endorsement from celebrities were not enough for me. The results of cosmetic surgery must be seen and touched. To see is to believe, to touch is to trust, I thought. Navasero promptly brought me to two of her friends, one who had her eyebags removed and another who had a tummy tuck by Dr. Guanzon.

Drooping or sagging eyelids usually afflict persons from age 50, the doctor explained. The loosening of the connective tissues of the muscles around the eyes come with the natural aging process, he added. My sister had drooping eyelids prematurely, triggered by her drastic weight loss, anxiety and stress.

Looking good after a life-threatening disease was not just an option. My sister said it was a must if she was to save her sagging self-esteem. Two days after she arrived from Brussels, she had her appointment with Dr. Guanzon at his clinic in Libis, Quezon City. She had secretly wanted a temporal facelift, which she had read about in the Net. Instead, Dr. Guanzon gave her a blepharoplasty.

Blepharoplasty is the process of removing excess skin and fat around the eyes. When Dr. Guanzon started his practice in cosmetic surgery in the '80s, he said only women in their 50s and older would go for cosmetic surgery. But the popularity of Hollywood goddesses who have ?eyes without fold? have attracted young urban professionals to the clinic, he said. It's the new culture, the doctor added. ?It's human nature to desire to be beautiful in the eyes of others,? he explained.

Because such procedures can be expensive, Dr. Guanzon's biggest clientele are overseas Filipinos from the US and contractual Filipino workers from elsewhere in the world. Among Filipino women married to foreigners, noselifts have become the most in-demand procedure, he revealed. But breast augmentation and liposuction are becoming popular as well. ?OFWs really save money for cosmetic surgery,? he noted.

After cosmetic surgery, a patient tends to maintain a physical fitness regimen and a healthy diet, the doctor observed. ?There's nothing wrong with loving oneself and taking good care of our bodies. People develop themselves, often starting with the physical,? Dr. Guanzon explained. ?The results go beyond the lifted nose or the enhanced breast. It can be total,? he added.

As was the case with my sister.

After filling up a form about her medical history, my sister donned a surgical gown for the surgery. She was awake during the one-hour procedure but she could not move nor talk, she said. She heard snips and snaps and before long, the doctor's words, ?Open your eyes,? ?Close your eyes.? She had another hour in the recovery room, waiting for the anesthesia to wear off. In less than four hours, my sister was all set to leave the clinic, wearing large sunglasses to cover her bruised eyes. No bandages, no gauze. When her son asked her what happened, she told him, jokingly, ?I got punched in the eyes.?

After two weeks and two checkups, my sister was off to Dipolog City for a town visit. With her two boys in tow and our brothers as guide, she explored the islands and beaches in Misamis Occidental, the caves and the malls of Cagayan de Oro and the enchanting sites of Camiguin Island where she had a reunion with her college friends from Xavier University. When they told her she had not aged at all, my sister said, ?oh yeah?? She then took off her huge colored glasses to show off the surgery.

At this point, the results may not yet be impressive. Said Dr. Guanzon: ?Removal of the excess skin in the upper eyelids will result in deep-set eyes, but the full results won't be seen until after three months. Only then can you see your new look,? he told my sister.

But while the physical results are not yet that obvious, the psychological impact of such procedures can be significant to patients who have suffered a severe blow to their ego. Like my sister who considers her cosmetic surgery as having preserved not only her looks, but her self-esteem as well.

?Good as new,? we josh her about it, adding that this time around, she has become more than just an ordinary ?balikbayan;? now she's also a bonafide medical tourist in her homeland.