Who is Dr .Alvarez

Hey gang,
Wow alot of you have gone to this Dr.Alvarez.  Who is he. and Why are you all going to Mexico for this surgery.  Insurance? Are you paying cash for the surgery?  Just curious in my research journey.

Dr Alvarez is a true gentleman who does the VSG surgery in Mexico.  Because I was self pay I searched the Internet for options.  Here in Atlanta - it costs around $26,000.  My insurance only pays for RNY or the Lap-Band.  So I checked around, researched doctors - talked to a couple before I decided on Dr. Alvarez. 

I found Dr. Alvarez was one of the best surgeons that I considered.  My PCP was totally impressed, I checked in with her 2 weeks post-op and we could not find one of the incisions by site and only the largest one had any bruising. 

He did a great job for me - I an not quite 6 months out - have lost 80 pounds - no complications.  I was a lower BMI's and would do it again with Dr. Alvarez if I needed to.  At 5 months I was no longer obese and was in ONEderland. 

Emory University would have done it for $20,300 and Dr.Smith in Marietta would have done it for $17,500 you should have looked harder.

None of them have the same experience set with the sleeve that Dr. A. does. 

She also seems pretty pleased with her choice and her outcome, so possibly looking harder would not have worked out any better than it did.

For everyones information - I am very happy with my choice.  I would go back to Dr. Alvarez in a minute - if I need to. 

I personally would NOT have been able to afford nor would want to pay the $17,500. 

I did look at other options in Atlanta - but did not care for the results I found.  I just quoted the price from my insurance companies center of excellence, bariatric surgeon.  I did speak with Dr. Smith's office, just NOT impressed with the office staff. 

Why should she have looked harder??

I think maybe I do not understand the question "Who is he?"  He is a surgeon who is in Piedras Negras, Mexico. 

I will be going to him.  My insurance will not pay for the sleeve, but honestly - I think its a blessing because they sure would not have paid for me to go to him.  He has experience hand over fist over all of the folks here in Atlanta who have done the sleeve.   Honestly, my druthers would be someone who has experience, over someone who I can choose, strictly because they are covered by my insurance who has only done 14 sleeves.  (This is my opinion only!)

I am paying cash for the surgery.

The biggest push to choosing him over Dr. Aceves or Dr. Joya is because he is closer to where I am, georgraphically, and so my time getting back home would be a lot less. 

Donna

Here is a old post that I bookmarked a while back . Maybe some of the old replies plus the new ones you get will help you understand why some many people use and like Dr A.

And just to let you know the young lady who ask this post will be in Las Vegas later this month for his Patient Reunion . That should tell you how good her experience was with Dr A and his staff.

Good luck and keep reseaching
Tony

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/3584791/Dr-Alvarez-how -many-went-or-are-going-to-him/

I have researched surgeons for the past six months and I have chose Dr. Alvarez for many reasons...First and foremost...he comes extremely, highly recommended!  Second...he is one of the top skilled, experienced surgeons in his field for VSG surgeries.  Third...his price.  Of course, I would have still chosen him, even if the price was more, but thank goodness, we can choose a highly qualified surgeon that is also affordable!  Please check out his forum to read all the patient reviews.  There is nothing negative that I have been able to find out about Dr. Alvarez or his staff.  I will be having my surgery on March 23rd and can't wait and feel extremely confident that I will be in good hands.

DW

He is a great surgeon. Best deal for me, being on the east coast, and insurance doesn't ncover it. So, for $10,000 and $362 in airfare for two people, I got this done.