Dr. Almanza- January 15th

Anyone going to be there? I will be travelling alone, and just wanted to see who else will be there. I promise I will bring enough 'trash-reading' for two :)

There will be a bunch of us there!  I'll be there with my husband...surgery day is Wednesday.  I think there are about a dozen people from OH there this week!  Safe travels to you and see you on Friday!

AAAAHHHH man, I like my trash reading... I have a kindle and plan to bring it, but my surgery isn't till Feb. 5th.  So no sharing trash reads lol.

You'll have to let me know how it goes! My Mother and I are getting it done the 29th with Dr. Almanza. I'm sooo nervous! :/

So it looks like it will not be Dr. Almanza any more. My fiance spent tons of time on the different boards yesterday and is really very uncomfortable about going to Dr. Almanza. So we are skipping off to Dr. Alvarez and paying the difference. (His comment was that- this is not a 'kitchen renovation'- you cannot trust the cheaper guy)

So I am still scheduled for this week friday in Piedra Negras instead. Good luck to all of y'all. I will be keeping in touch, and would love to hear your progress.

What did he find that he was uncomfortable with about Dr. Almanza? Everything I've seen is pretty much positive... Should I be worried??

I think it depends on your comfort level. There were a number of people who have posted on different boards (including the vertical Sleeve talk site) that they had issues with infections post surgery. My understanding is that there was a batch of 'sutures that were compromised'.  Not sure why/when. Also, my understanding is that he has about 2 years, maybe 3 years experience (just what I heard from other folks- cannot confirm that info)

One person who was a patient in Dec sent me a very detailed email with her dissapointments with infections and post-care, and that sealed the deal for me. So off to Alvarez I go. i feel better about the decision, even though I am certain the extra 3500 would've been nice for clothes after all of this :)

I wish you luck with Dr. Alvarez, but it's a shame you're spending the extra amount on another doctor. I had my surgery last week and had a wonderful experience. Dr. Almanza and his team were fantastic and did a great job while I was there.

The suiture issue happened many months ago and was corrected immediately. As for the number of years he's been doing surgeries...that hasn't been confirmed, but he's certainly a whole heck of a lot better than any doctor in the US and infections/issues with your surgery can happen with any doctor, regardless of the number of years they've been doing surgery.