Guillermo Alvarez Bariatric Surgeon MD

Dr. Alvarez and his TEAM were great! I would highly recommend the surgery and YES, Mexico was safe!! Met some great people along the way as well! Join Dr. A's Facebook page for encouragement and inspiration everyday as well as advice on day to day diets and foods. You will not regret making the trip!
Kathy T

Dr Guillermo Alvarez is so personable and wonderful with his patients that he can quickly make any fears or concerns drift away. I felt very confident in his abilities before meeting him and even more so once I met him in person. I honestly feel that he genuinely cares about each and every one of his patients as an individual. The other surgeons on his team are wonderful too. They take turns doing rounds on their patients so there was always someone checking in on me. I work in healthcare in the United States and I have never seen a patient get more care and attention than what I received from Dr. Alvarez and his team.
Dr. Alvarez does not use a catheter during surgery as he wants you up and moving around as soon as possible. I was very thankful for that! I was up and walking around the same afternoon of my surgery, I did not experience any pain, vomiting, or gas discomfort that you always hear people talk about. I had such a smooth, painless, enjoyable experience. I felt so great that we went for a walk around the market in Piedras Negras the next day! I am so thankful for him! You absolutely will not regret choosing him to be your surgeon. How many other surgeons can say they have performed over 10,000 VSGs?

With all of that being said, I do want to encourage you to choose Dr. Alvarez as your surgeon even if you do experience bumps in the road leading up to surgery as I did. I almost did not follow through with having my surgery with Dr. Alvarez due to repeated unpleasant interactions with his patient care coordinator. She is the person that you exchange emails with leading up to the surgery. I wanted to back out because of her lacking in customer service abilities but I had such a strong faith in Dr. Alvarez's surgical abilities that I went through with it. If you have an issue with her please just try to ignore her as Dr. Alvarez is absolutely amazing. She does not even live in Mexico so you will not have to deal with her in person. I am so thankful that I did not back out! He also has a marketing/brand coordinator that strongly did not want me to include this portion in my review. I feel that I am giving five stars and I place my complete trust in Dr. A but that it should be known that these issues may arise in the course of pre-surgery communication and that once you get through that you will not regret your choice.

Since this is obviously a big decision I chose to research surgeons for quiet some time. I never found a bad review on Dr Alvarez, not one! I had some fears with traveling to Mexico, but was assured by other patients & Susan (Dr Alvarez coordinator) that I would be in good hands & would be safe. The driver picked us in San Antonio & from the moment I entered in to the endobariatric van, I felt safe. Rosy was very pleasant & assured us that we were going to be very well taken care of. The next morning we crossed the border & I NEVER felt unsafe. The town is quiet nice! I entered the hospital & was greeted with smiles, & a hug. Dr Alvarez answered any concerns I may have had that morning. The compassion for his patients was so evident. He exudes a love for this procedure & the positive effects it has. I was very nervous that morning, & he was right there with me to help ease my fears. The surgery was over before I knew it. They kept me comfortable & were always there at rhe ring of the nurses call button. The nurses were awesome! The hospital is clean & very nice. They informed me of everything I needed to know before I departed. I'm 6 weeks out, & trust me when I say that I have had many questions & how comforting it is to known that Dr Alvarez & Susan is just an email, phone call, or a snapchat away. They do NOT do the surgery & then forget about you! They're right there to help you along your journey. This has been the best decision I have ever made for myself. I thank God I found Dr Alvarez. His passion, concerns for his patients, & his AMAZING bedside manner is just the tip of the iceberg! The USA could learn a lot from the treatment of patients that is under his care. Five star treatment! So thankful for this wonderful man! He's crafted this tool like no one else!

Dr. Alvarez is an amazing surgeon! And his team is top notch! I am an RN in the U.S. and I would recommend him to any of my friends and family that needed this lifesaving tool.

I am on a wonderful journey thanks to Dr Alvarez! I had m sleeve done 6/13/16 and with my pre-op diet and surgery I am down 43 pounds and am feeling great head to toe. I know with his help I will reach my goal weight. The entire experience is the best part. The staff is so very helpful and fun. The facility was clean and I had the most awesome care while in Mexico. For anyone worried about going into Mexico ,don't ! Dr Alvarez and staff should be teaching doctors, hospitals and nurses all over how to treat patients. The surgery was fast and pain free and I never threw up or felt bad. Since I got home I have been able to communicate with Dr Alvarez and staff way easier than my doctors here in the states. It's as simple as messaging or calling. Don't wait just do it!! Get the info you need and go for it !!

I had VSG with Dr. Alvarez June 3, 2016. He and his team provided the utmost in professional and concerned care. I would recommend Dr. Alvarez to anyone considering bariatric surgery. He is professional and available to his patients bothe before the procedure and after as well.

When I first chose Dr. Alvarez to do my surgery it was primarily because 1) I didn't want to go through the process of get a psychological evaluation or meet with a nutritionist who would ultimately tell me that I have issues with food (because I already know what got me to the unfortunate state I was in) 2) I wanted the surgery to be done discreetly (I didn't want my friends at the hospital nor any of my extended family to know about it) and 3) I wanted it done immediately

After I told my husband that I intended to go to Dr. Alvarez and he started researching the surgery (he was at first very, very apprehensive for me to travel to Mexico alone for surgery) we both agreed that this was the best possible choice. That even if the surgery were easier to get at home or costs us less money, Dr. Alvarez was our choice because he is the best! He and his team have done this some many times they seem to work in concert together. Plus, not having to make any arrangements for travel other than my flight was amazing! Nothing at all to worry about other than getting there. I actually ENJOYED my surgical experience!

I truly hope that more people get the opportunity to go to Dr Alvarez for this surgery! So much so that I hope to help a family member with some of her funding very soon.

I am a surgical ICU nurse who sees all that can go bad with just about any surgery, so I researched Dr Alvarez thoroughly before scheduling my vertical sleeve gastrectomy with him. I also have two friends who had surgery by him and could not be more please with their results. The trip went just as advertised and all of the arrangements were waiting for me. At the clinic everyone was very friendly and professional so the check-in went smoothly. As far as the surgery I received my sedative in my room and next woke up back in my room and wasn't sure if anything had happened until I felt the bandages on my abdomen. I had no pain to speak of, just some muscle soreness at the larger incisions. I was up and walking the same day and the next I was at the market in Piedras Negra shopping for souvenirs.
Today is 5 weeks post-op and I have lost a total of 30 lbs. I feel very good. Still learning which foods I tolerate best, but the discomfort is less each day.
My recommendation is to do your research and get all of your questions answered, but Dr Alvarez has my confidence and trust.

I had Gastric sleeve surgery on may16 2016 with Dr Alvarez it was the best decision I could have made. I was nervous about traveling to Mexico but trust me there is nothing to worry about. I traveled from Seattle WA and everything was perfect from the time I left home :) dr Alvarez and his team are some of the best u will ever meet . I can't thank them enough form my first call to Susan to a ride with Rosie and finally meeting Alvarez all was perfect form start to finish if u have a worry just call and Susan will put u at ease. Thank you Dr Alvarez and team for my life changing experience . ????????????????????

Dr. Guillermo Alvarez, his wonderful team of doctors and staff are absolutely the best!
I was fortunate enough to have a sister that had the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) surgery by Dr. Alvarez in Mexico a couple years ago. By getting lots of information, reading Dr. Alvarez's books and seeing my sister's transformation, I knew this is something that I needed to do to enjoy a better quality of life.
My husband accompanied me to Mexico for my surgery. We found Dr. Alvarez and his team to be amazing. They were very knowledgeable, compassionate and caring. I received the best care from beginning to end of my journey; with Susan, who is the Patient Coordinator, answering all my questions to Rosy, our transportation person, all the doctors and nurses.
As of today, I am almost 6 weeks post op., 36 pound lost and doing great. I am so blessed!
Nancy