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Before & After There are currently no before and after photos for this member. See these instructions if you wish to submit your own Before & After photos. Surgeon Testimonial Guillermo Alvarez For anyone looking into going to Dr. Alvarez for surgery in Mexico, let me say that I am the LAST person you would've ever thought would've been OK with this. I first heard about the vertical sleeve gastrectomy several years ago, but it was so new and I always thought I was supposed to be able to lose weight on my own. I did look up weight loss surgery on the website of the hospital where i live SEVERAL times and even signed up for the informational seminars more than once, but never actually went to them. We called our insurance company and found out that NO type of weight loss surgery was covered. I wasn't sure how we would be able to pay for surgery without any help from my insurance. Then earlier this year, I heard that Bart Millard had the sleeve. IF you don't know who he is, he is the lead singer of MercyMe, and my husband and I follow his adventures on twitter - he has lost 100 lbs. My sister had gastric bypass 3 years ago and has been extremely successful, but something didn't set right with me having my intestines re-routed. When I checked out the lap-band, there were just so many people with complications, plus I read that there would be a possibility I would need to have it removed if I got pregnant, and I didn't want a foreign body inside my body. So that really limited my choices and I started researching the sleeve. Of course, my first resource was YouTube. I like to see people talk about things. And the more I researched, the more videos that kept popping up about Endobariatric in Peidras Negras, Mexico. At first, I was like.. there is just no way I would dare go to Mexico. I worried like everyone does that it was not legit, not safe and it would not be smart.. But it really seemed super legit the more I researched it. I consider myself to be an extremely good investigator, and I literally could not find even ONE negative thing about Dr. Alvarez or his practice.. So I went to their website, requested information, and within a day or so, I received an email from their office from Susan, who was super helpful. I must have asked her 5 million questions, and what really stood out to me was that NONE of her answers were generic, pre-written out or ingenuine. I felt like she answered my questions with heart, and she has also had the surgery so she is very knowledgeable. I convinced my husband that this was what I wanted to do, and more than anything we prayed and prayed about whether or not this would be the right decision. We decided that it was, so I sent my deposit and received all my paperwork. I was put on a 30 day liquid diet, which wasn't AS hard as I thought it would be, and my surgery was on July 27th. We flew into San Antonio, took the shuttle to the hotel they specified and Dr. A's driver, Rosy was right there waiting for us with my sleeve sister (someone who was having surgery the same day as me). We drove 2 hours down to Eagle Pass, TX and everything went just as they said it would. My husband and I caught a taxi to Chilis and walmart that night to get him some snacks for the journey (since we didn't check baggage). And the next morning, Rosy picked us up and took us over the border to the hospital. The hospital is old but very clean. The nurses wear cute little white nurse outfits and hats like you see in old movies. Anyhow, when I met Dr. A for the first time, he was very friendly and took us into his office, went over my paperwork, weighed me and then gave us a chance to ask any questions. Then they whisked us off to have pre-op lab work done. I will interject here that the people who draw the blood are SO GOOD. I had some blood drawn here where I live in FL a month before surgery and was poked SEVERAL times before she found my vein. The Mexican nurse made sure she had it before she ever stuck me once, and then when they started my IV, they were extremely careful and said they would only try once before turning it over to the anesthesiologist. They only poked once, and got it the first time. Everything went very fast (but smooth) from there. I was shown my room, which was extremely nice with hardwood floors and my husband had a couch to sleep on. I undressed, put on the robe and they started my IV. They said they would give me something to relax me and the next thing I knew I was waking up from surgery. Dr. A came in to talk to my husband after surgery and he and his associate Dr. Gabe were constantly checking on me throughout my stay. Dr. A also has an assistant named Jessica who speaks English and tended to our every need. She walked with us up and down the halls, she even took my husband to dinner twice, since he doesn't speak Spanish. She was always there whenever a nurse would come in, so I never felt like I didn't know what was going on... she was there to translate everything. Since my surgery 4 weeks ago, I have lost 26 lbs, and I lost 25 lbs before surgery as well. I have not thrown up once, and I have not any the first complication. I greatly attribute this to two things: 1. the power of prayer and 2. Dr. Alvarez's extreme skill and ability. I was so nervous going into the surgery, but I KNEW that none of the Dr.'s here would be as skilled as him; afterall, he does 2-3 surgeries a day. He really is extremely smart and I have been impressed with the entire process. I felt like he and his entire staff truly care about me, and even still he has been emailing me to make sure things are going well for me and telling me what phase is next. My surgery cost $9200 because I had a higher BMI than most (so there was an additional $500), but I really do believe it's probably one of it not THE best decision I have ever made. I know I am still very early out..... one month. But I feel great and I know that this is going to change my life forever. I am SO very pleased with my decision, and I would highly recommend Dr. Alvarez over ANY other surgeon out there. I just don't think you will get the same type of care, treatment and genuine-ness than with Dr. A and his staff! :) Please feel free to email me at pinkfrogs2@yahoo.com if you are looking into Dr. A and have specific questions! Latest Surgery Support Comments No comments posted yet. Please post yours. Click here for the surgery support page |
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