The medical tourist.

Byline: Gabe Semenza

Jun. 17--A waiter hand-delivered a menu to Sally Pierce's seventh-floor suite in Mumbai, India. She ordered curry and lamb, closed the door and limped across a marble floor to the window, where sun flooded her spacious room and a view of the exotic palm trees below dotted the groomed landscape. Pierce, who lives 40 miles east of Victoria, stayed in the Emerald Suite, where greens flow from the palms to the room's jade walls.

But the 61-year-old Blessing woman wasn't in India to sightsee. She was there in May to have hip-replacement surgery, joining a growing number of Americans, forced by rising health care costs, to seek treatment in third-world countries such as India and elsewhere.

By seeking treatment abroad, Pierce saved about $30,000.

But her 24-hour return flight home was painful. Her leg swelled. Her pills couldn't dull the ache in her hip.