Guillermo Alvarez Bariatric Surgeon MD

Ihad a Inamed band originally placed by Dr. Jose Rodriquez. Dr. Rod was a very good surgeon and I was very happy with my services. rnrnHowever, I went to a fill doctor here in the stated by the name of Dr. Maese and he got my band too tight causing me to throw up and damage my stomach.rnrnI went to Dr. ALVAREZ in Piedras Negras, Mexico for band revision on Monday, July 21, 2008. My neice had previsously had lap band with Dr. Alvarez. I was so impressed with Dr. Alvarez. His staff all speak english and were very professional. The hospital was as nice and well equipped as any I have been in here in the states. Dr. Alvarez was extremely accomodating as I drove to Mexico alone and needed to park my vehicle somewhere while in the hospital. He even asked me to e-mail him as soon as I got home to make sure I made it okay. My revision surgery went so well. I didn't even need to take any pain medication. rnrnI am so impressed and happy with Dr. Alvarez I would be honored to recommend him to anyone considering bariatric surgery.

7/5/08-Update!rnrnThanks to the \"A\" team, I was successfully sleeved. Dr. A was highly committed to making sure that my surgery be successful.rnrnAs a former lap bander, I had a tremendous amount of remaining scar tissue, which made the operation extra difficult. Dr. A is tremendously skillful and he dedicated additional time to remove the damaged tissue.rnrnThere are many people in the states who arernhesitant to have surgery outside the U.S. I understand; my family was uneasy when I first visited Dr. A in February. What I have discovered is that the U.S. may be familiar, but it doesn't guarantee that a doctor is competent, or kind, or committed to improving your life.rnrnMy biggest wish is that I could have Dr. A as my permanent Dr. He has set the bar for how to respect and partner with a patient!rnrnRating: scale of 1-10, a 20!rnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnYes, I know. rnrnAnother Dr. A fan. rnrnWords do not adequately describe my medical and personal experiences with Dr. A and his incredible team. As the daughter of a biochemist and a pharmacist, I am very astute from a medical perspective. I review the medical journals on a regular basis. I look for every possible scenario and study every possible outcome. A medical geek.rnrnDr. A and his team treated me as if I were the only person in the universe. God has truly gifted this Dr. with a rare mixture of surgical competence, compassion, charm, and love for others. I was afforded a level of dignity as a human being that NO OTHER MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL has ever offered me, in the U.S. and otherwise.rnrnI will return to get my sleeve with Dr. A on 7/5/08. I cannot wait to see mi familia again!rnrnrnrn

Extremely user-friendly for both patient & accompanying family member/friend.rnThe only down-side was that the private bathroom attached to the patient room was not air conditioned & prohibitively hot. All other aspects of the surgery & overall experience were faultless.

7/16/08 - I adore Dr. Alvarez - everything went so smoothly. He was so great to work with and Susan, the patient coordinator, made everything so easy from start to finish. Everyone associated with Dr. A - including Rosy, Alberto, Dr. Gabriel, Christina and all the nurses were wonderful.

I had VSG surgery with Dr. Alvarez on July 7, 2008. What an awesome experience. Dr. Alvarez and his staff are all very caring and attentive. The surgery itself was a breeze. I can't believe how good I have felt since the moment I woke up from surgery. Absolutely NO pain in the incision sites, no muscle pain and no nausea. His aftercare program is pretty straight forward and all spelled out for you. Any questions along the way and he has an awesome surgical coordinator an email away -- even weekends! His surgical competence and beside manner are exceptional. I would highly recommned Dr. Alvarez.

Dr. Alvarez is wonderful! He was very genuine and kind. The support staff (Rosy and Susan) were wonderful, as well. The anesthesiologist (Dr. Salinas, I think) was also an expert!!!rnrnDr. Alvarez has a great bedside manner, but he also made you feel quite confident in his skills. He met personally with you in his office prior to surgery and answered all of my questions. He showed me pictures and went through the process step by step. rnrn

My VSG surgery was June 24,2008. My first impression of Dr. Alvarez was good. He shook my hand, smiling, warm welcome. He was a great mixture of caring and professional. My impression of him did change over time. I could tell that Dr. A. loves what he does. Always asking how I felt and he took the time to listen if my answer got lengthy and cofusing. It is a difficult time when I was feeling confused and wondering what the heck I had just done, and I was feeling things in my body that I had never felt before. I have had doctors ask me questions and I could tell they were half listening or worse yet not even looking at me when I answered. Dr. A truly has his patients best interest at heart. He never made me feel like I was silly with my questions. His staff was wonderful too! They were very knowledgable about nutrition as well as general health questions about the procedure I had just had. They were not only caring for me during surgery, they were treating me like a friend. Dr. A and his staff prepared me with all the medicine and directions I would need for my after care. They had prepared a personlize box complete with all the medicine I would need, and it came with a sit down instruction class with Dr. A and his staff, I have known exacally what to do at home, it has been so reasuring! Dr A. did a great job making me aware of the \"not so fun\" details of the surgery. Risks are not easy to hear when you are looking surgery straight in the face, however Dr. A. and his staff had a way of giving the good and bad in way that is not upsetting but informative about the details you cannot ignore. I cannot give Dr. Alvarez a high enough rating.....he was excellent! I have made the comment to my family that Dr. Alvarez had never been obease,has probably never worried about if the chair at his childs choir concert will hold him...however he is the one who is changing lives of people who do have this worry everyday. He his truly making miricales happen in the lives of people who thought there was not hope for their life altering obesity. Just the squeez of my hand or the pat on the back is what takes Dr. Alvarez up and beyond the call of duty, him and his staff care about each patient and each life they have in their hands. He will always be my hero!!

Reading another positive review for Dr. Alvarez may seem redundant, but my was outstanding. Having found Dr. Alvarez online I was a little nervous, full of many \"what if?\" questions which were promptly answered by Susan and former patients. I was on a 2 week clear fluids diet, which helped me lose quite a bit of weight before surgery and I believe that prepared me mentally for the weeks following surgery. Honestly the worst part of my experience was the 7 hour drive from the Dallas area to Eagle Pass, but hey, anything to save money. When my husband and I arrived in Eagle Pass, we checked into the Holiday Inn Express, which was MUCH nicer than I'd expected. It was very clean and comfortable. I called the front office and was told that Rosie would pick me up at 8:15 the following morning. Of course I woke up hours earlier, like a kid excited about the first day of school. There was no line at the bridge and the drive to the clinic was very short. In the reception area, I sat with my husband, Rosie and Terry, another patient. Dr. Alvarez and Dr. Rosales came in and shook our hands, and my husband and I went in to Dr. Alvarez's office. There I was weighed and given the opportunity to clear up questions (I actually didn't have many). I was shown the Inamed and J&J band and went with J&J. It was cool to touch something that I will hopefully have inside me the rest of my life. After Terry's consultation, we were taken into the hospital and shown to our rooms. My surgery was to be 2nd. The hotel was what I expected and despite what I've read in other reviews, I didn't smell anything strange for a hospital. My room had two beds, a couch, TV, a computer with internet and access to a free phone to call the states. The bathroom was great, all ceramic tiles, a raised toilet and a shower. I was taken by a friendly nurse, can't remember her name since I waited 2 weeks to review, to get my blood drawn and to have chest x-rays. After returning to the room three nurses came in to help me change to my sexy hospital gown which was too small to cover my butt and to put an IV in my hand. They first tried to poke near my wrist near the thumb, but my vein was rolling. I got poked about 6 times on the wrist, then a different nurse poked me on the top of my hand and the needle went in fine. That was honestly the only pain I've felt before or since surgery. It wasn't excrutiating, but felt like being stung by bees over and over until it was in. I was connected to an IV drip and the nurses left. The reality of what was about to happen hit and I felt a little scared and emotional, my husband came over and I squeaked out about 10 tears, then with that out of my system, I started laughing and felt excited again. Several minutes later the nurses returned with a doctor in blue scrubs.. the anesthesiologist? I can't remember. I remember rambling nonsense in Spanish, anesthesia being put into my IV, struggling to heave myself onto another gurney in a drugged up state, then waking up post-op with 2 friends looking at me. They had driven 6 hours to come see how I was. I asked my husband when I had been put under because I really didn't remember anything. He said that he thought I was nervous and passed out because I was talking, then my eyes rolled back in my head :)). I don't know what that drug was, but it was goooooooood. So back to post op because I have no clue what happened during surgery. I woke up about an hour after surgery, took off my oxygen mask, stayed awake for 5 minutes talking to hubby and friends, got up to pee, laid down and went to sleep for an hour.... that was my pattern for about 10 hours. I slept for several hours during the night and couldn't believe that I was sleeping on my back. I know nurses came in every so often to inject me in the IV.... blood thinners, antibiotics, pain meds? Whatever it was, I NEVER felt any pain. I took several walks in the hall, stopped to talk to Terry and met another lady who had had the Sleeve operation. She was frustrated because she was unable to communicate with the night nurses who speak Spanish. I told then what she wanted and went back to sleep. I felt pressure, like something was different inside and it felt weird cough but I honestly never had pain. My throat felt like I had swallowed a piece of sand paper, I think that was from the breathing tubes during surgery. The next morning I had ice chips, then later an apple flavored Jumex and grape Jello. Dr. Alvarez came in to check on me and Dr. Rosales stayed to explain post-op instructions. I was given the box that my band came in which had my pain meds and antibiotic inside. The antibiotic tasted like @$$. But I never gagged, so I guess it was palatable and most importantly I didn't get an infection, so kudos. The pain meds made me a little sleepy and I actually took naps in the afternoon while I was on it. So after the explanations, we hugged the doctors, and were asked to stay in touch. We got back in the big white minivan (with a picture of a woman pinching her rolls) and headed back across the border. The line at the bridge wasn't bad, but because my husband is a citizen of a blacklisted country, we were detained until the migra could run his passport. After that we were returned to the hotel, where we chose to stay an extra day, not thinking I would feel up to riding in the car for 7+ hours. I rested for a while, and my friends came over to say hi. We decided to go shopping, and I actually felt great to walk around. I still felt no pain. The next morning my husband and I drove home to Dallas, and stopped to shop in San Marcos for 3 hours. Because of the pain meds I felt no pain in my back as I had on the way down and decided to drive the final 2 hours on the way home. I turned the air vents away from my face to avoid the weird-feeling coughs, but again felt great. During the night I ended up sleeping on my stomach, but I didn't feel uncomfortable. The steristrips fell off within 4-5 days and my scars are very small and cute. I am now 2 weeks out. The week I couldn't eat much jello or drink much before I felt full but the swelling has gone down and I can't wait for an adjustment. This was supposed to be a review of the surgeon, but I wrote my entire experience. If you've read this far, I highly recommend that you talk with other patients of Dr. A and give Susan, the patient coordinator a call. I love my band!

Considering I have never been out of the country before much less ever had surgery before, this was such a great experience for me. Dr. Alvarez and Dr. Gabriel, two of the nicest people not to mention surgeons you will ever meet. Down to earth and I can see why they have such a following. Nothing came as a surprise to me, everything was as expected....sure there is a slight language barrier but afterall you are in Mexico. Some of the small things others have complained about are so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. You are coming for surgery and I wanted a 5 star surgeon, not a 5 star hospital. It was clean and that is what mattered to me the most. I am happy with my results thus far and I know this will kick my high cholesterol out the door and I have already stopped with the terrible snoring. This surgery is a life saver. So, if you have any qualms about coming to Mexico for surgery & a VSG, know you are in the best of hands and let Dr. A do his magic. It is so worth it! The whole team and his staff are wonderful.

We came to Memphis from Norfolk, had 4minutes to catch our connecting to SAN. Flight was fine, we then went with Rosy to Eagle Pass--I slept mostly in the car. We went to Modernos (home of the original nachos) and had my last meal. Ididn't like it so much, but it was a nice restuarant and it all was very authentic. My DH loved it. I said goodbye to diet coke then and there.rnrnLater, at the hotel, I got a bit emotional and scared. This is such a life changing event, and if you're reading this, you get it. Took a bath, shaved my legs, went and had a wonderful sleep in a wonderful bed.rnWoke up refreshed and ready. Rosy picked us up (sleeve sister Karen also) and went to DR. A's office. The town isn't what we're used to in terms of cleanliness and infastructure, but as long as you know that going in, you'll be okay.rnDr. Alvarez is very warm and bright. I immediately felt at ease when I met him. We went for Xrays, and blood work...now, the hospital is very old. It surprised my sleeve sister. I had seen pictures, so I wasn't as surprised. BUt my husband was taken aback by it. Our room is small, but very nice, it smells funny--so bring a tiny candle or a stick up. I've been in here for about 2 hours, and the smell is going away, so -its fine.rnI'm just waiting for surgery...rnI know I'll do great.rnI'll update as soon as i can.rnrnOne day out of surgery. It was tough waking up. The pain hit me hard. It hits people very differently, hit me quite hard. The pain meds didn't make much of a difference, but later that night dr. A brought me some good pain meds and something to help me sleep. That was just what I needed. I wished for more of that.rnI've been walking a lot, which helps...and feeling a little better. My legs are weak, and I feel weak all over, so we'll see how my first week goes.rnAs far as Dr. A and his staff, they are great!!!!!!!!!!