Dr Alvarez
Dr Alvarez was not my surgeon but I understand he is one of the best :)
LINDA
Ht: 5'2" | HW 225, BMI 41.2 | CW 115, BMI 21.0
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.
I just celebrated 2 years out of surgery October 5th. I had my surgery with Dr. Alveraz. I went from 265 pounds size 22-24 to 155 pounds size 12. He is a wonderful surgeon! I'm a nurse and have been around many physicians over the years and he is one of the tops!