Guillermo Alvarez Bariatric Surgeon MD

I was very impressed with Dr. A and the hospital and surgery room. Everyone was more than helpful. I don't speak spanish, but Dr. A and his staff provided a list of common phrases that we used and showed to nurses. Dr. a has excellent bedside manners and put my wife and I to ease and answered all of our questions. My sister in law had surgery in another Mexico city and my wife accompanied her and she definitely was more impressed with Dr. A and the hospital in Piedras Negras.

Well, My first impression of Dr. Alvarez was just what everyone said it would be. Immediate comfort and trust. He was very kind and attentive. I enjoyed the process. The first night was a little hard, as expected, and after that, things went very smoothly. Hew as a great surgeon, and I recovered very quickly. He was an overall 10! Both his surgical competence and bedside manner were wonderful. rnrnThe only thing I would have wished for was that the nurses could speak some english. Other than that, the stay was just fine. Very competent and wonderful Dr. and Staff.

My first impression of Dr A was that I was in very good hands. He had a way of immediately making me feel comfortable. I somehow knew I was in good hands. He visited at least 3 or 4 times a day after surgery. Always asking if we needed anything. His staff was always extremely helpful. He has a fairly strict aftercare plan. He tells you exactly what he expects of you. He says we have to our part to keep it working like it's supposed to. I think overall I would rate Dr A a 12 out of 10! He was just awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. His surgical competence and bedside manner were equally great. He is an awesome doctor. He genuinely cares about his patients.

Dr. Alvarez is a very kind and caring.rnSuper down to earth. I was never afraid of my procedure or his competence. Dealing with him and his staff was great---someone always there for you. When I called he answered the phone himself and scheduled my surgery. rnIt was important for me to have a surgeon I felt comfortable with. He treats everyone the way we all wish we were treated not just patients but nurses, hospital staff. Just a generally NICE guy. Very dynamic personality---he could give Tony Robbins a run for his money!rn

\"Doc A\" is great. I can go on and on and repeat practically verbatim what everyone else has said, but I won't. I can say without doubt that you will be safe and secure with Dr. Alvarez. He kind of exudes his confidence in a way that makes you feel at ease. Very unlike the American docs that exude confidence in a way that makes you think they are pompus, over confident knuckleheads. rn My hospital experience was slightly less than most others. Slightly. I wish I had brought some sort of small spanish dictionary to communicate better with the nurses. rn I had a small issue one night with the air conditioning being on and making my room cold, it was hard to communicate \"Please turn it off\" Again Dr. A helped me out. rn Also, I wanted more morphine. I was in a lot of pain and wanted more of the \"Good Drugs\" (the ones that made the pain go away and helped me sleep). But, Dr. A kindly explained to me that he did not want to give me any more than one dose of Morphine because it causes your intestines to sort of freeze up. From what I understand, and I may be wrong, this is bad because it inhibits healing and may prolong your gas from exiting the body (Which you want to happen SOON as Possible) and prolongs your first Bowel Movement, something else you want to happen soon. So, even this was for my own good. Thanks Dr. A!rn By the time we checked out Doc was like and old friend, laughing a joking and making you comfortable all the way through. This is no small thing, it means alot when you feel so vulnerable and out of sorts. rn Would I use Dr. Alvarez again? Resoundingly, YES. Next time, I will ask him about the other hospital that he (I am told by others on the board) does surgeries out of as well. My husband is considering going back down to him in September of this year. I love my tiny tummy, I don't regret this a bit. Thanks Doctor Alvarez for making it as pleasant and affordable as you can for us who cannot get insurance to cover it.rn

My first impression of Dr. A was...\"What a super nice guy!\" My impression of him only got better as time went on. He is so kind, caring, compassionate, and truly sincere and genuine. He has a way about him of making you feel so comfortable from the minute you meet him. I have never been made to feel at such ease with any other doctor. After arriving to his office, he met with us and went over any last minute questions. He explained everything he was going to do every step of the way. He always kept us in the loop so we knew what to expect. He was extremely attentive and visited me several times a day to see how I was doing. He was receptive to my concerns and questions and was extremely efficient at making me feel very comfortable. He also took excellent care of my friend (who came along with me for support) and got sick while I was in the hospital. Dr. A's surgical competence and bedside manner are absolutely fabulous. I would rate him a 9 out of 10 and this has nothing to do with competence or bedside manner. The only reason I can't give him a 10 is because he is so far away. If he was in the States and closer to my home, he would be a 10++++++

The day of my surgery finally arrived on March 26, 2007. That morning Rosie, Dr. A’s cousin, picked me and another patient up from the Holiday Inn Express (in Eagle Pass, Tx) at 11:00 a.m. We drove about 10 minutes to Dr. A’s office in Piedras Negras, Mx. His office was quite nice and very professional – just as you would expect in an American doctor’s office. He greeted us with a huge smile and a hug. I was so happy to finally meet him: I immediately felt comfortable and safe with him as my surgeon. I had a private question and answer meeting with him. After the meeting, we took a short walk to the hospital as Dr. A’s office is just in front of the hospital entrance. Dr. A was kind enough to carry my luggage to my room. When we got to the hospital, everything was already taken care of… we just went straight to our rooms. It was great! I was given a hospital gown and told to change. Dr. A informed me that I would be the first to the OR as I was the youngest. He also told me that a lab technician would come to my room within a few minutes to take a blood sample. Once the lab results came back, I’d be ready for surgery! Sure enough, moments later I had my blood drawn. About ½ hour after I was off to the OR! While in the OR Dr. A did everything to make me more comfortable. He even had great music playing in the background. He talked and otherwise distracted me as the anesthesiologist inserted my IV. Once the IV was in place, Dr. A told me that a mask was going to be placed over my face. The next thing I remember was being wheeled back into my room. rnOver the course of the next two days, I was given superb care by Dr. A and the nursing staff. The nurses were like clockwork. I NEVER had to ask for pain medication because the nurses arrived before the pain would begin again. In addition to pain killers, I was also given blood thinners and antibiotics. Communication also was not an issue because I was given a sheet with basic requests; it also allowed me to practice my Spanish. Dr. A came to check on me 4 times each day. He was wonderful. Always kind, gentle, helpful, and never without a smile on his face. I never felt as though my treatment or care was somehow inadequate. Also, while the hospital itself is older, all modern equipment was available in the case an emergency occurred in the OR. Note too that Dr. A did an amazing job with the incisions. All are as tiny as possible and have healed beautifully.rnNote too that I have never encountered a Doctor that is as dedicated to his patients as Dr. A. If you call him, he will talk to you and answer any questions you have. If you email him, he will respond within hours. He takes special care to remove all or most of the stomach fundus so as to reduce future stretching. Further, he has a unique procedure where he uses three rows of staples and stitches between the staple lines. This technique eliminated the need for a drainage tube and has resulted in a ZERO percent leakage rate. In all honesty, I feel as though I received much better care and more attention than any patient in the U.S. My only complaint is that my hospital room was warm and I missed my own pillows. I suggest you bring a small fan and a pillow if you can fit them in your suitcase. If you are contemplating VSG I highly recommend Doctor Alvarez. After my experience even my mother, a registered nurse, is thinking about having the surgery with Dr. A!!!rn

It is totally impossible to say as much needs to be said about Dr. Alvarez. I am a nurse and I have of course encountered many doctors and surgeons in my time. None have ever been as personable, likeable and downright charming as Dr. Alvarez. From the minute he walked into the office he had a huge smile on his face and I never once saw him without that smile. He seemed to have all the time in the world for me to answer any questions and even to make my laptop work becuase i was not able to get the wireless connection to connect. So he fixed that for me too!!!rnIf you cold hear someone coming down the hall ofthe hospital and you could hear whistling, it was sure to be Dr. Alvarez. And he comes to check on us a lot. I had to have seen him at least 4 times afer my surgery. While I was waiting for my turn i started to get nervous. While in the OR and they were prepping everything and getting my IV started he sat beside me and held my hand and talked to me about everything was going to be just fine and he was going to take good care of me. rnThe staff is also fantastic, although they speak no English they do make every effort to get their point across to you and they are right on time with every pain med and nausea med you are to get. They never did come and make me go for a walk but i was up doing that on my own. The hospital is old, but dont make any mistake, it is VERY clean and the things that need to be technologically advanced are. The OR had all the right equipment and I felt they were prepared to deal with any suprise that could have come up. The rooms were less advanced, of course the cable was out while I was there, but i am not one for TV anyways. rnI would not hesitate to return to Dr. Alvarez or Piedras negras for any aftercare I will need. I was very impressed with Rosie our driver and her husband Javier...just plain wonderful people. Make you feel at ease from the moment you meet them at the airport. Then you meet the doctor and the staff and everything is just good....the fear vanished for me and I knew I was in the right place.

Dr. Alvarez has the best bedside manners I've ever experienced. He was extremely knowledgeable. He came to visit me several times each of the 2 days I was in the hospital. He shows genuine concern for his patients. As for his surgical competence, the man is just awesome. My 5 incisions are very small and neat. I have had no pain from them at all. I was up and walking the day after surgery with no problems. I'm 5 days post op and I have resumed to my normal activities. I would rate Dr. Alvarez a 20 out of 10. He has exceeded my expectations of him. I would recommended him to anyone having any weight loss procedure, especially the VSG. He has performed hundreds of VSGs with no mortalities or leaks. He's one of the best VSG surgeons in the nation.

Dr. Alvarez is a wonderful surgeon, compassionate physician and overall fantastic human being. I see why others on OH call him \"Dr. Hottie\" because he is a real cutie-pie! Most of my research I had done beforehand of my aftercare and I am very proactive and disciplined so this won't be a problem for me. I know the American Doc's have support groups that you can attend weekly, but my support groups are online where I have found a wealth of knowledge and compassion from my fellow bandsters. The risks of surgery were explained, but again, I did my homework beforehand so I knew what to expect. Future patients should know that he is more than qualified, is young but is trained in the latest techniques and procedures both at Baylor in Dallas as well as in France. The price can't be beat. He is the lowest cost provider in Mexico currently and that was a very important factor for me since I was self pay. Also, being right across the border from Texas makes him very accessible without having to pay for airfare. All in all, I would rate my experience a 9.75 out of a 10. My husband is scheduled for July for the band with him, and I am working on several other members of my family to get it as well from Dr. Alvarez. I would not have my husband go through with this if I didn't have complete confidence in Dr. Alvarez and the facility. We have 3 small children who need their parents. Mucho, mucho gracias Dr. Alvarez!!