Dr Alvarez
Shawn,
I had Dr.Alvarez for my surgery in May 2013. I have nothing but positive things to say about Dr. A and his entire staff. If you have some specific questions you'd like to ask me I'm more than happy to help you out. You can read my patient testimonial on my profile page.
150 pounds gone for now! :-) Initial goal weight of 170 lbs met on March 7, 2014. My 44 year old bones survived hiking 4 days overland to a highest point of 4700 metres! Machu Picchu goal...CONQUERED!
What made you choose Dr A? My surgery goal date is the first week of February due to financial reasons. I am very excited but very nervous about whether or not I am making the right choice in going to Mexico for my surgery. Everything I have seen and read about Dr A is positive so I really think I am making the right choice! Did you have to have any blood workup done at your doctors before heading down for surgery or did Dr A just do what was needed when you got down there?
Hey Shawn,
I choose Dr. A after carefully reading all I could find on a number of different surgeons in Canada, the US and Mexico.I was cleared for OHIP to cover a gastric bypass but through the process decided I didn't like some of the things I was hearing about vitamin deficencies down the road. So I started to research alternatives and looked at the sleeve as being the best choice for me.
Ultimately I chose him for 2 main reasons. First and foremost because he had done thousands of sleeve surgeries. In Canada I couldn't find anyone who had done anywhere near that. Dr. A has been basically a pioneer in the field of sleeve surgeries (although I realize it is an older surgery it wasn't used as the same stand alone procedure it is now). The other main reason is I went on his You Tube site and watched all (and I mean all) of his videos. I listened to his radio talk show Obesity Chat at length. After doing both of these things I felt like I knew (as well as you can) what he was like and his philosophy around patient care. I felt like the responses he was giving about people's questions made sense to me and I believed he was a person that cared about the welfare of his patients.
Then I contacted Susan the patient care coordinator and started to ask questions about the surgery. Finally, I decided on Dr. A and booked the surgery. I never looked back.
I did not get any special bloodwork done before I went down to Mexico but I did have to complete an extensive patient health questionaire and send it down. I didn't have any serious co-morbidities so I didn't require any special work up before hand.
The morning of surgery I had a chest xray and some blood drawn. Then shortly thereafter I went in for my surgery and was out 45 minutes later. I was walking around my room 2 hours after! We (I talked my sister into it too) stayed in Mexico for 2 nights, then back to San Antonio and flew out 3 days after surgery. I actually drove home from Detroit (4 hours) when we got off the flight.
I was off work another week (so 2 weeks from travel, to surgery to rest at home) and when I went back to work as a busy Grade One teacher it was pretty easy.
I followed Dr. Alvarez's plan to the letter. I dropped 100 pounds quite quickly and then then rest quite a bit slower. I am 1 1/2 years out from surgery and I have put back on about 10 pounds from my lowest weight (but it fluxes as I am perimenopausal) but I am not worried about it as I felt my face looked a little too gaunt when I was sitting around 152 lbs.
Dr. A delivers what he promises. He was supportive when I had questions after surgery and certainly responded within the day to my emails. I have been absolutely thrilled with my entire experience.
Okay...seriously...I'm not getting paid by Alvarez! :-) I just really think he's got a great thing going and a lot of skill!
Good luck making your decision.
150 pounds gone for now! :-) Initial goal weight of 170 lbs met on March 7, 2014. My 44 year old bones survived hiking 4 days overland to a highest point of 4700 metres! Machu Picchu goal...CONQUERED!
