Guillermo Alvarez Bariatric Surgeon MD

I am a lapband to sleeve revision patient. Dr. Alvarez removed by lapband in February 2014 and my sleeve in July 2014. Both experiences exceeded my expectations. Both my husband and I are RNs, so we were prepared to be extra critical and cautious when my surgeries occurred. However, there was no need. The care I experienced from the physicians and the nursing staff was top notch. Dr. Alvarez and his physician counterparts checked on me multiple times per day. Any need that I had was immediately addressed by the nursing staff. I would recommend him to any of my family and friends. I initially chose him because of his reputation and skill level. It's not all about the price of the procedure. This is a life altering procedure, and you want the very best surgeon. I feel that Dr. Alvarez is it!

I spent much of my time looking at the possibility of having surgery in the states or in Mexico. To have surgery in the states I would need to gain more weight, develop full blown diabetes (right now I am borderline) and have another weight related health problem. After scrutinizing three Mexico doctors and their patient reviews, here on Obesity Help, and on youtube, I chose Dr Alvarez. I ended up asking Susan the coordinator, a ton of questions, and she was good about getting back to me, and helping me understand things, she is great.
We (me and my husband) were picked up at the San Antonio, La Quinta by Rosy. It was a long drive, but I did not mind at all because I would rather have someone in the driver’s seat that knows where we are going, with experience, and she did that well. Rosy had already informed us what to do and what not to do when went through customs. On going across the border I was expecting what I had seen years ago on some of the major border crossings, once inside Mexico, chaos, children selling stuff, a lot of movement. This was not the case at all, I have to repeat, it was calm and quiet and uneventful, and there was very little traffic. The border patrol knew Rosy and she handled everything.
We met with Dr Alvarez, and from there it was just a matter of procedures, weight, blood, and x-ray. Because I was so nervous the time seemed to drag, but once I was given the drip for the OR, I remember trying to get onto the gurney, from there, I awoke, and had to ask, did I really have surgery? My husband said I asked everyone that came in the room the same question. I was surprised to find out from my husband that before the doctor could do the surgery he also had to repair a hiatal hernia.
The care I received was outstanding, I kept accidentally hitting the call button, and always someone would show up. I saw Dr Alvarez and two of his associates the two days I was there. What I really liked is that the staff at the hospital was so quiet, professional and helpful. The rooms are set in an alcove, sort of away from the hallway. My room was private as was the bathroom and shower.
The only thing that went wrong was my IV insertion, which I have had a problem with the insertion once before here in the states. It was very painful and eventually became infiltrated. Because I was still feeling the drugs of OR, I don’t remember but my husband said that I would not let anyone take out the IV and redo the right hand, unless the doctor did it himself. My husband said that Dr Alvarez showed up later in his regular clothes, I remember him coming in and telling me the IV had to be switched or I would become dehydrated. It was then changed to my right hand, after that there were no more problems with it. If you have any medical issues do let them know so you won’t have a problem like I did.
I am extremely happy that I chose Dr Alvarez and his staff, they were all very professional. My husband is thoroughly impressed with the care I received. Jessica even ordered dinner for him on the second day. Everybody, from Susan, my first contact, to Rosy, the driver, to Dr Alvarez and his two associates, his assistants, Annali, and Jessica. They all speak perfect English. Dr Alvarez keeps in touch and has been updating me on when to move on to the next level of my food intake.
If you are contemplating having this surgery, I highly recommend Dr Alvarez, you won’t regret it, I know I don’t. I am happy I made this choice, and I am feeling good about life and eating less.

Dr. Alvarez is the most caring doctor I have ever met!

Coming from Arkansas and traveling to Mexico alone was scary. However, once I met Dr. Alvarez my anxiety level dropped. He gives off a very positive vibe and greets you with a warm welcome:-)

Dr. Alvarez is present from the beginning of your stay till the moment you checkout and head back to the U.S.. He consistently checked in on me and the other patients to see how we were doing and answer any questions.

Also, his staff was amazing!! They were very helpful and wonderful company:-) I will forever be great full for the top notch care I received and I highly recommend Dr. Alvarez and his team to help you get to a healthy lifestyle!!

God Bless <3

I had VSG on July 7 in Mexico with Dr. Alvarez. I was on the fence for a long time about going to Mexico. I live in WV so you can imagine the comments I got regarding my decision to go. I am so GLAD that I listened to myself. It is the best thing I have ever done for myself. Dr. Alvarez is wonderful! I've had no complications, actually he is so good at what he does I had to ask if I really had surgery because I felt so good afterwards. His staff was great, the hospital was clean. Most think after surgery it's over, but I've heard from him every week since surgery and anytime I've had a question he has always gotten back to me so quickly. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks Dr. Alvarez for changing my life.

I chose Dr Alvarez after doing research and finding that his bariatric surgery was as impressive as was his education.
The former patients positive experience and positive outcomes were factored in as well in my decision making.
Dr Alvarez has laid everything out for his patients, and has done the homework for them. His VSG is done with care, the highest quality products. He double secures the procedure with sutures, which many doctors don't do.
I have contact with the Dr should a concern arise.
I had 2 assistant surgeons to Dr Alvarez with whom I was very pleased.
My Anesthesiologist was great. He must have used the right size ETT, because I never had a sore throat. Not something I can say about my US anesthesiologist in previous female surgery.
All physicians visited frequent as well did my nurses. Every need was well cared for.
The hospital in Mexico was cleaner than the hospitals in the US and I have worked several in the state of Tx as an RN.
The nursing staff in MX is unparalleled.
I was not impressed with the US nurse Susan George LVN (she was rude) however she is mostly just an intake person.
My surgery and post op recovery went well and uneventful.
I am very pleased and impressed with my Doctors, my outcome, and mostly with Dr Alvarez.

What can I say about Dr. Alvarez and his staff that hasn't already been said? Not too much. What you read is all true! I was scheduled for a LAP-BAND to VSG revision on July 24th. Thanks to Dr. Alvarez's amazing assistant, Susan, I was given all the information I needed, along with paperwork, well ahead of time. She let me know that my surgery may have to happen in two parts, depending on the condition of my band, and the scar tissue. (Dr. Alvarez doesn't like taking any risks, which makes him the great surgeon that he is!)
Oh and if I had any questions, or concerns, I could email Susan at any time, and she'd email me back immediately.

Well luckily, I had the whole procedure done in one shot. Everything went well. Dr. Alvarez and Dr. Rosales checked on me often, as did the nurses. Anali and Jessica were fabulous. The anesthesiologist, Dr. Salinas was great too.

My husband was the one who really freaked out about my going to Mexico for this surgery. When we got to Piedras Negras, and met the kind and amazing Dr. Alvarez, my husband became more relaxed. He liked him ALOT! By the next day, he was walking around the town to find places to eat. Rosy picked us up on my discharge date, took us back over the border safely. We never worried about a thing.

If I had the choice to do this again, would I do it? In a HEARTBEAT!

Dr. Alvarez was so amazing and really made me feel more comfortable about getting the surgery. His staff was attentive and very kind. I believe I received better care at Dr. Alvarez's facility than I have anywhere else. Not only did the nurses come and check on me often, Dr. Alvarez or another doctor would come in regularly to speak with my mother and me. He truly cares about his patients and I believe that he was the best one to do my surgery. I am 40 pounds down two months post-op. I couldn't thank Dr. Alvarez enough for giving me this tool to help me on my weight loss journey. Dr. Alvarez was safe, kind and very knowledgable on the surgery. I highly recommend him if you are searching for a surgeon.

I am a practice manager for a very busy neurologist and I know the importance of great patient care. All I can say is I Love,love,love Dr. Alvarez!
I had gastric sleeve surgery on June 20, 2014 and I am now 4 weeks out and I am feel great! I have lost 23 lbs so far. I had a follow up appointment with my PCP today and she commented oh how great my incisions look.

My husband had the same procedure here in the U.S. and he did not get the same care and attention that I received from Dr. Alvarez me during my stay in the hospital.

I would recommend Dr. Alvarez to anyone interested in Bariatric surgery. For those of you that are curious about being able to understand Dr. Alvarez he speaks better English than 99% of the doctors I deal with on a daily basis.

My experience with DR. Alvarez goes back before I had the gastric sleeve surgery. I had previously had the lap band done with another doctor. I used to go see him for fills but it was troublesome since he wasn't from that area and rarely around and so made it difficult. A friend of mine mentioned DR. Alvarez and so I checked it out. At first I was blown away about how professional and cool this place was. I felt like I was in a fancy DR. office in some big city! So when I went for my fills with him I was so comfortable with him from the start! First he spoke perfect English and his staff was amazing. Plus he had a flouroscope machine and I could see my band and all. I thought it was so cool!! I later learned he does the gastric sleeve surgery and at first thought "No way" too extreme for me. A few years past and I saw people who had the surgery done and amazing results while I had the band and pretty much gained all the weight I lost. So I finally took the plunge and went to him. Let me point out how amazed I was with his time and effort he puts into his YouTube videos. I felt so prepared before going in. I live on the border and I drove there with no worries. I was so happy to see that he picks up patients on the U.S. Side and brings them in safely and out! You can't get better service than that! Unfortunately media make the border look worse than it is. It's totally safe and knowing DR. Alvarez he wouldn't put his patients in any danger. He is the real deal! Hospital is top notch. Only gripe I had was the wi-fi was horrible! Other than that I couldn't believe how fast the recovery time was and just how great of an experience everything turned out to be. I had Lap band taken out while having the sleeve procedure done at the same time. I was told that more likely I was only going to have to wait for sleeve because usually Lap Band builds scar tissue and it can complicate things. I really appreciated his honesty and the fact you could tell he wasn't out there to get greedy. You can tell he really loves what he does and wants to help people. The stereotype you might hear from friends or relatives is always that he or she knew somebody that had the surgery and died or whatever. With my experience they couldn't tell me which procedure was done or what doctor. Basically you could tell they came from rumors. Please be weary and do your homework when researching. I learned quickly that lesson when I got negative feedback. I prefer doctors in Mexico because of the fact the are well qualified and I never have to wait more than 10 minutes at a docs office. Plus it's half the price!! Dr. Alvarez's office is not the stereotype you would even closely experience with him! He is truly genuine along with staff as well. Please watch his videos on YouTube and talk to Susan. She lives on the U.S. side and she makes sure you get all your questions answered and set up to have the surgery in Mexico. Please contact me if you have questions. So far I'm a month out and have lost 32 lbs and surprisingly feeling amazing and full when I eat a 1/4 of the food I used to eat.

To say that I was skeptical about leaving the United States for such a specialized, major surgery was an understatement. I had the benefit of knowing several other patients of Dr. Alvarez and had seen their tremendous results. They're depiction of how great the experience was my selling point, as I had never met Dr. A. My initial contact with Susan George was phenomenal. She is very helpful in getting you any information you desire and, as a gastric sleeve patient of Dr. A's herself, is very knowledgeable about the process and what to expect. She was there for me when I thought of concerns while waiting for my surgery date. I could have emailed her everyday, and she would have been just as reassuring that 5,000th time as she was the first time I emailed her. Upon crossing the border the morning of surgery, I won't lie, I had a fleeting moment where I thought "What the heck am I doing????". Once arriving at Dr. A's office and meeting him, I was totally at ease and ready to get it done. Dr. A, the staff, Susan, and the hospital nurses were outstanding. My assisting surgeon was Dr. Rosales. He was outstanding as well. These folks REALLY know how to take care of you. I know my wife was impressed and much more relaxed than she thought she would be. I would not hesitate to recommend someone for bariatric surgery with Dr. A, and that includes my own mother (which by the way, he operated on his own mother and sleeved her). If the man feels confident enough about the procedure itself and his abilities as a surgeon to perform it on his own mother, then that right there tells me that this is THE place to go. As I type this, I am a month and one day post surgery. I went back to work (I'm a police officer) two weeks post op, but someone working in an office or not having to fight with people could go back in a week. Heck, the day of discharge the wife and I were shopping at the North Star Mall in San Antonio. I began my weight loss journey at 287.5 lbs the day I began the 21 day liquid diet I was given. Sitting behind this keyboard right now is a man that weighs 229.5 lbs., and still dropping. To say I'm ecstatic is an understatement!!! Post op follow up has been fabulous, and Dr. A has personally answered my emails with answers to my questions. How cool is that???

In case my information above is a bit muddy, if you are looking at the gastric sleeve as a tool for weight loss, then Dr. Alvarez is most definitely your man!!! Call or email them TODAY!