Endohospital Bariatric Center

I had my vertical sleeve surgery on the 26 of September and I am 9 days post op. I am doing well although my incisions still a little sore. I have lost ten pounds and have 130 to go. Dr. Alvarez and his staff took very good care of me. I felt safe. Just like everyone has said, Dr. Alvarez most definitely is a charmer, plus he has a great bedside manner. His nurse team is exceptional. They came in to check on me and give me my meds consistenly every two hours. If I needed anything inbetweem theri visits to my room they were there for me within a couple of minutes. Dr. Alvarez gave me a complete and thorough explanation of my aftercare and how to take my meds., etc. Future patients should know that he is an excellent doctor, very knowledgeble and probably one of the best at what he does. I have to say I am happy with the whole experience. I can't wait to throw away my fat clothes and I am so looking forward to my new life!

Dr. A. is a \"10\"!!rnHe is highly skilled.rnHe shows that he really cares for his patients.rnI got a sleeve and he checked on me frequently, EVERY DAY.rn

All positive!!! See my July 2007 post on my profile to see the details.

My first impression of Dr. Alvarez was \"Oh my, he is HOT\". LOL I hope he is as good a surgeon as he is good looking! Seriously, Dr. Alvarez has a wonderful gift of being able to calm you down and talk to you in a way that makes you feel he is your best friend. He explains the proceedure and answers all your questions in a non-hurried manner. I was surprised at how many times he checked in after surgery, even on Sunday. I am very happy with my experience with Dr. Alvarez and reccommend him to all.

Frist Let me say Dr Alvarez and his staff was WONDERFUL! rnHis time is his own. He can spend as much time as he wants with you, he gives you the feeling of how inportant you are,he holds your hand and talks with you for as long as you need he look at you as a person not a number.rnFirst thing I arrived into San Antonio andrnchecked into our hotel Suite. Wonderful, things were beyond my expectations, very good business practice.rnRosie picked us up at the Hotel and to ok us to Dr Alvarez’s office. We each talked with him personally,what a charmer!!!! He was so attentive and cared about our needs. I really enjoyed his personality thru the whole couple of days. As we all finished our private Q&A with him, Rosie and Dr Alvarez walked us to our rooms and handed us each our own private cell phone with free long distance!!! WOW!! We could call home when ever we wanted and as often as we wanted!! You had to go into the hall to make calls but it was great.rnMy biggest worry was my hetel hernia Dr Alvarez and Dr. Jose Rodriguez refixed this with no problems and Never charged my a cent more. I will repeat, never charged me a cent, these guy are such 'surgical craftsmen' at what they do. They are my heros. It pays to have doctors that have done many many of these sleeves and many other surgerys. . rnI highly recommend Dr Alvarez and Dr Rodriguez, I feel I was in very excellent detailed and caring care!. Dr. Alveraz has answered any question I have asked. Like, are you sure, I have surgery I feel better now than I have in 3-5 years. I can drink as much water as I want with out getting sick. I feel great and would do it all over again. This was a Great experience! And now I have my Banana ! Dr. Alveraz gave me my life back .rn

Dear OH Friends, rnrnThank you so much for your well wishes and prayers. I am so happy and pleased with everything and I feel such a sense of excitement and hope for my future. It is as if I could literally burst. I went to Mexico and Dr. Alvarez was my surgeon. He was everything I hoped for and then some. I had my VSG on Monday August 6 and by Wednesday the 8th; I was able to get off all of my oral insulin and my diabetic insulin pump. I can hardly believe it. What a gift! I am looking forward to getting off all of my high blood pressure, high cholesterol meds and CPAP with oxygen as well. rnrnThere is a place in heaven for Dr. Alvarez. I just cannot say enough good things about him and his whole south of the border team. The entire trip and surgery went smooth as butter. We flew first class and his hotel accommodations were wonderful...everything that I needed. His staffers are very attentive, warm, gracious and kind. rn rnThe only minor hiccup with the surgery was due to my own stupidity and the fact that I panicked and had several last minute \"food funerals\" in the week that led up to my surgery. I do not recommend this because both Dr. Alvarez and I paid the price. My liver was evidently the size of a Cadillac. Dr. Alvarez made it very clear that the size of my liver will shrink over time due to the health benefits of this surgery but from what I understand, it was THE BIGGEST liver he has ever seen. In fact, it was so frickin big that he had to put a drain in near my liver for 24 hours but it worked very well and came out just fine without any pain – I am just a little sore in the abs. I have no bruising and all discomfort immediately after surgery dissipated quickly. rn rnOne of the many reasons I selected Dr. Alvarez as my surgeon in addition to his experience, surgical skill, reputation and training was his professional philosophy of being very gentile to the body on which he is operating. I truly believe that 9 out of 10 surgeons would have gotten one look at my \"mui grande\" liver and converted me immediately to an \"open\" instead of laparoscopic procedure. I am sure that at the very least I would be a lot sorer. He must make every move so gingerly. I just cannot say enough good things about him but neither could any of his previous patients, which is another reason why I chose him. rnrnDr. Alvarez came to see me several times each day. He would be there at my bedside early in the morning and late at night. I have been hospitalized in the US numerous times and have never experienced the kind of thoughtful, consistent and loving care that I received south of border with Dr. Alvarez. In addition, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my gallbladder looked perfectly healthy to him and he felt no need to remove it. The weird pains I have been feeling over the past year were probably from a swollen liver and had nothing to do with my gallbladder. rn rnHonestly, the surgery just went perfectly. I feel fantastic and am glad that the surgery is finally behind me. I do not seem to have any of the minor problems that can come after a VSG. I am not having any trouble getting my liquids or protein in. I am not tired, I have no indigestion, heartburn, or discomfort at all. I have not needed any acid blockers and I really do not need the pain meds that he gave me anymore but I am going to take them until they are gone. I even got up early yesterday, threw on my sneakers and took a walk to the lake in my subdivision. I have lived here for almost five years and have never done that. Dr. Alvarez even called me personally yesterday to check on me, wish me well and remind me that I can call or email him anytime. He is a gem! I will thank God for guiding Dr. Alvarez into bariatric medicine for the rest of my new, longer, happier and healthier life. rn rnI am not going to weigh myself for a while. I really want to focus on how I feel instead of what I weigh. I have changed my life and want to change my head too while I change the body. I will keep you all posted though. rn rnAgain, my dear OH friends thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I really appreciate it. I will be in touch. rn rnWarm regards, rnAnna BananarnSt. Louis, MO

Dr. Alvarez is a wonderful surgeon and person. He and his team are very warm, personable, and accommodating. The whole trip was very fast and everything was taken care of. Everyone said how much they liked Dr. A, but you don't really know how great he is until you meet him :) Besides being a very warm and friendly person he is very skilled at what he does, and my recovery time was very quick. I was walking outside the day after surgery, and never had any pain. I would recommend him to anyone considering the VSG.

I have chosen Dr. Alvarez as my surgeon in Mexico for two reasons. The first obvious reason is that is alot cheaper than in the U.S. being approx $7,000. The second reason is that I have heard nothing but wonderful things about Dr. Alvarez. I spoke with him briefly and he seemed humble, compassionate, and patient. I can tell I have made the right decision and I can not wait to post on my blog my entire Mexico experience with Dr. Alvarez and his very wonderful staff.

Dr Alvarez was WONDERFUL!rn. rnI am an ex-surgical ICU nurse in the USA (nursing supervisor now)rn and I tell you,rnsurgeons are normally not a desirable grouprnon average, they are more of a ego filled people you do not want to be around. On top of that they, like our American PCPs, American surgeons are limited by the corporation that owns them or their group, or what the insurance is willing to pay them, on the amount of timernthey spend with you or the amount of care your insurance will pay them on you.rn.rnThis is not so with Mexican docs and for sure not so with Dr Alvarez!rnrnTheir time is their own. They can spendrnas much time as they want with you, it gives you the feelingrnof how it use to be, docs holding your hand and talking withrnyou for as long as you need, to you not a disease or a surgery, butrnyou as a person. WONDERFUL!!!rnrnAnd Dr. Alvarez was at the top of the line in attentive, compassionate, and professional care!rnI bragged about his excellent bedside manner and caring service he gave me and my friend for months after I got home!! He is hard to beat!rn.rnOther than the flight (I paid $145 plus tax Southwest Airlines), rnevery thing was covered including the hotel before and after.rnFirst thing we arrived into San Antonio andrnchecked into our hotel room provided, did I say room?rnrnIt was a Suite, a small nice apartment all to myself!rnrnWonderful, immediately things were beyondrnmy expectations, very good business practice.rn.rnThat eve we meet our coordinator Penny, whornwas by our sides thru it all, she even sat outside ourrnrooms at the hospital making sure all of our needs were meet, all the way to takingrnus to the airport Monday! She also shipped our luggage UPS for us so that we didn’t have to carry it home on the plane!!!! What a wonder that turned out to be! rn.rnThe next morning, was surgery day, Penny drove us in a van across the border about less than a mile to the hospital and Dr Alvarez’s office. rnYes, his hospital is just within one mile of the US border, thatrngave me great comfort!!!! I can't tell you how much it calmed me!!rnrnAnd have I mentioned yet that there is TWO Bariatric surgeons doingrnyour surgery, not one and an assistant, but TWO, Dr Alvarez and Dr Rodriguez,rnboth very very good surgeons. rnrnDr Alvarez himself was trained in Francernto do the sleeve and assisted in 50 sleeves before returning home!!!!rnDr Alvarez has alot of passion as a surgeon, a trued craftsmen, you know how some surgeons can be rough with your insides and others are gentle! Gentle means less pain and trauma, that's Dr Alvarez, a gentle craftsmen, his father is a surgeon too andrnhe and Dr Alvarez even do surgeries together!! He is very passionaternabout being a bariatric surgeon, quite a pleasant warm person to talk rnto, that is the kind of soul I want working on me!rnI did not require narcotics postop, none of the 3 of us did!!! I had onlyrna cramping feeling for about 2 days than that was all of the pain meds I took,rnI was ready to return to work in 5 days. I read of others that need narcoticsrnand weeks of recovery, not so with Dr Alvarez his surgery is a craft and he is very good at it. rnrnAnyway, We each talked with him personally,rnwhat a charmer!!!! He was so attentive and cared about our needs, and I had some special ones with my bad back and disinfectant allergies!! He loved the logistics of the whole thing, I really enjoyed his personality thru the whole couple of days.rn.rnAs we all finished our private Q&A with him, Penny and Dr Alvarez handed us each our own private cell phone with free longrndistance!!! WOW!! We could call home when ever we wanted and as often as we wanted!! cool. (next month they are installing wirelessrninternet in the hospital!!!)rn.rnNext, order was set on who is first, welllll, young go first and me the oldest went last, but since I had done so much prep work (liquid diet, balloons, by the way he that the balloons were a GREAT idea! ) they said I was great and took only 44 minutes!!rnMy stomach skin was loose from 30 days of liquid nutrient preop dieting and that made my intestines flat and empty, lungs in good shape from the exercising, YeeHaw!!.rnHe did not require the preop diet, but being a nurse, I knew it was best.rnrnAnd get this! rnMy biggest worry was leakage, Dr Alvarez and Dr Jose Rodriguez have a 0% leakage, I will repeat, rnthese guysrnare such 'surgical craftsmen'rnat what they do that they have 0% leakage,rnYES! 0% leakage!!!!rnI haven't talked to not one USA doc that can say that!!!rnrnThis is why he says he does so well, rnthey put 3 rows of staples and double hand stitch the seam, staples are very expensive, infact half the cost of the entire surgery! But, they care enough to make sure your surgery is done the best it can be. No one I checked with in the states did that!rnrnIt pays to have doctors that have done many many of these sleevesrnrnI can’t over state that!rnrnCame out of surgery and slept……haharn.rnI stopped my pain meds after the 2nd postop day, never even needed narcotics.rnrnI did Gas X thin strips every 8 hours from the point we could have ice chips on.rnrnWe got out of the hospital after two days,rnI have 4 holes straight across about 2 inches above my belly buttonrnand one in the middle under my breast bone (for the camera).rnI had no belly drain I might add, he said he stopped doing that as rnit was proven to be unneeded..rnOn my 4th day after surgery, I felt pretty good, not very tired, no pain, I felt like I could use a couple cups of coffee and that’s it.rn. rnI highly recommend Dr Alvarez and Dr Rodriguez, besides excellent prices, I feel like I was under excellent very detailed and caring care!rnrnDr A visited us at least 4 times a day, so very friendly. rnrnYou can go straight to Dr Alvarez's website at http://www.mache.com.mx/doc/index.htmrnrnrnThis was a Great experience!rnrnAnd now I have my Banana!!!!rnrn rnMarcellarnrn

I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Alvarez in Piedras Negras. He was a wonderful and caring surgeon. I would absolutely recommend him to anyone thinking about WLS. Everything was taken care of; I had nothing to worry about. The hospital staff was very thorough and friendly. Even though I do not speak Spanish, I was able to communicate enough to get what I needed. I wish the nursing staff at the hospitals I had been in before was as attentive. So far, I have been feeling almost 100% percent. I'm still getting used to the fact of not being hungry. My husband was eating last night and I had no desire to eat at all. That's a plus for me.