Alberto Aceves Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

I will be heading for Mexico in approximately one week. So far the communications with Dr. Aceves' office has been fine. I am totally confident that the surgery will go well.

Dr. Aceves was a wonderful person, very caring and had an awesome staff of team members ready to answer any questions on the spot. I was afraid there would be a language barrier but there was no such thing. Everyone was so caring and attentive and made me feel like I was the only patient in that wing (though there were several!). He requires me to stay in touch with him and his team members visa email on a very regular basis. If I don't, they email me! I don't feel like I will be dropped through the cracks. Dr. Aceves was very kind and patient with all of our questions. There were Four others with me when he discussed the procedure and they had TONS of questions that I was too overwhelmed to think of. Both his surgical competence and his bedside manner were outstanding.rnrnI would highly recommend Dr. Aceves to anyone who is not able to fork out the high expense of WLS in the States, or whose insurance does not cover the procedure.

My Surgeon was Dr Aceves, assisted by Dr. Campos. I was 100% thrilled with every aspect of the care that I recieved while getting the sleeve gastrectomy and the hospital stay. The staff was organized, competent, and compasionate. Dr. Aceves assumes that you will have your aftercare with your own primary care doctor. If I was having surgery again today, 3 months later, I would choose Dr. Aceves again.

I will be having surgery with by Dr. Aceves on Oct. 1st 2009. I have been in contact with his office staff several times. They have been very helpful and friendly. I have also talked to several of his patients and have gotten excellent feedback from them concerning the care that they recieved.

I was skeptical about all these posts being true but I went to Dr Aceves I met him we talked he was a very up to earth but professional Dr. He explained to me all that there was to know the process, the food, the risks, and answered all my questions and doubts about the surgery.
I was shown around I saw that the place was clean, smelled good, people actually said hello and looked happy working there.
The treatment I recieved during the days of the surgery were great!! they checked on me,made me feel good & comfortable and explained to me everything they were going to do before i was taken to do whatever I needed to have done(good to be informed)
overall I loved the Drs, staff, the nurses who took care of me and the cordinatiors who I asked them many questions and never once seemed bothered by all my questions and issues.

Dr Aceves is great. I know i made the right decision to have the VSG surgery with Dr Aceves. I have been toying with WLS for the past 4 years since my best friend had RNY. I would seesaw back and forth, disguisted with my weight but fearful of the surgery. Thank God i finally made the decision and had my surgery on July 13th,( my belly button birthday). Since the surgery I have seen the fruits of my hard work in therapy and in
my relations come to fruition. I have more confidence, stand up for myself, take care of myself, buying myself things that i deserve when i would not before eg. new pair of
awesome sunglasses that were $70.
Initially i was a little bitchy and was wearning my emotions on my sleeve. Now i listen to people and clearly tell them when i disagree with them, when in the past I would take it on as shame, guilt or my responsiblity. I am really putting Zac first now in all areas of my life. I love my
sleeve "it Rocks" Thank you to all Dr Aceves staff who were so awesome.
What happens: Dr Aceves staff will pick you up from the San Diego airport and drive you to the hospital.
You will have all your preop tests on that day, chest xray, labwork and ekg. You will then meet with the coordinator, pay the $$ and then the driver will take you to the hotel (which is fabulous) You will have a great dinner that night, there are 3 restaurants in the hotel ( i had italian yum) and you can not eat after 10pm. You will be given an adivan (sleeping pill) and an antibiotic to take that night.
Next day driver meets you in the lobby of hotel at 7am. you go to the hospital approx 8 mins away from hotel. check into your room, meet with internist that checks out your preop tests from the day before, meet with anestiologist and then meet with Dr Aceves and Dr Campos. They are great. Dr A spends approx 30-40 minutes discussion the surgery etc, eating habits moving forward...great guy..gentle and kind

then you have surgery that am... they totally knock you out.. i came out of surgery not knowing i had surgery...
will be taken to your room, will wake up in a few hours and be walking around chatting. its amazing. they give you a morphine spinal block that deadens the pain for a day during the operation. No fluids until the next day. You could rince your mouth out with water. You will have your iv in until the next day. and you will have a drain (completly contained) to drain off fluids from the surgery area, that comes off your last day in the hospital.

Day 2 is tough, i woke up with really bad shoulder pain from the gas they inject to inflate your stomach to operate. they gave me a shot of something in my IV and I slept for a few hours.

when i woke up i had this grape juice to drink. it is a food color dye to test to make sure there are no leaks. tasted good.
Once they confirmed no leaks then they took out the iv and started giving you chicken broth, apple juice and camimile tea.

Day 3
take xray images of your stomach while you drink a barium type substance.

Day 4, released from hosp around 10 am.

overall, only pain was day 2. had a hard time getting in and out of bed but for the most part it was fine,,,and i am a crybaby when it comes to not feeling well. I also had my gallbladder taken out and the Dr repaire an iadle hernia while he was in there for no additonal costs. the gall bladder was 2k additional.

My first impression was that the doctor was nice but not the rave my niece led me to believe. However, that changed as our conversation progressed. He was very thorough and laid it on the line, that this was a life style change and not magic. It involved learning how to eat properly for maximum results. I also later found him to be very sensitive to my needs to the point that he even gave me a massage! He answerd all my questions and took time to make sure my daughter Charla,(who accompanied me) was there to hear everything. If she wasn't around he would talk to me and then come back to talk to her. The staff was very nice and friendly. There was really nothing that I did not like about the Dr. or his staff, to include the cleaning staff. My aftercare has been fine. Any questions I have are answered with-in a reasonable time through e-mail. I can call but prefer e-mail. The aftercare program involves how to care for you incisions, your diet, pain medication, nexium, and all of you medical records for you doctor at home. I really don't recall talking about the risk of the surgery. On a 1 - 10 scale, I would rate Dr. Aceves a 10. This last question is a no brainer. Of course surgical compentence is most important. But in order to have an excellent experience in such a trying time you need both competence and a good bedside manner!

I had my surgery on June 10th with Dr. Aceves. I opted to have the sleeve. My family was extremely against me going to Mexico for it (even though it is literally 2 minutes from the border). They thought of all kinds of things that could happen to me, and could not conceive that a surgeon in Mexico could compare to one here. I would like to let everyone that reads this know that not only did Dr. Aceves and his staff meet my expectations going down there, they went far beyond them. Every single member of Dr. Aceves staff is wonderful. The nurses at the hospital are professional and always there to help you, they also never failed to be smiling and generally seem to love their job and care about the patients. Dr. Aceves, and Dr. Campos (his assistant for sleeve surgeries) are wonderful! They checked on me often and gently teased me to try and make things light in the hospital room. (I am a huge wuss with needles and needless to say everyone in the hospital knew of me) I have had many follow ups since leaving the hospital both in e-mails and phone calls from Dr. Campos. I would never EVER choose another Dr. or facility for my friends and family. I already have 2 family members that have changed their opinions about going to Mexico for surgery since I have come back and are currently looking into also getting the sleeve done by Dr. Aceves. Lastly I would like to let everyone know and thank Renee, one of the nurses I call regularly that works for Dr. Aceves. She is always patient with me, and never rushes through a conversation. She makes you feel as though you are the only one in the world and reminds you everytime you get off the phone to please call right away if I have even a small question and she will always be here to answer, she even says she will be upset with you if you don't. She wants to help and answer your questions. It is more then a job for her, she even checked in on me at the hospital to make sure I was well. I can't tell you how impressed I have been throughout this entire process, the hospital was great, the staff professional, and the Dr.'s and nurses a dream! If you have any questions at all feel free to contact me!

Dr. Aceves and Dr. Campos go out of their way to make you feel comfortable, secure in your decision, and safe. I always felt they were there when I needed them, they checked on me several times a day, never let me lay there and hurt, answered all of my questions, and never acted rushed. Let me say I am an RN working in the states and many doctors I know could take a few lessons on etiquette and bedside manner from Dr. Aceves and Dr. Campos. Simply, I owe my new wonderful life to them. Thank you is not enough to say.

The kindness, care, and compassion I received from Dr. Aceves and staff was second to none. I was surprised and delighted when I learned that the lap band surgery scheduled through the Mexicali Bariatric Center required an overnight hospital stay. Prior to scheduling my surgery, I had done quite a bit of research on this procedure as it is performed here in Arizona. The clinics I found in Arizona did this procedure in outpatient facilities! It was comforting to me and my loved ones that I would be under hospital observation the first 24 hours. I cannot thank Dr. Aceves and his staff enough. I am finally on my way to a permanent weight loss