Guillermo Alvarez Bariatric Surgeon MD

The day of my surgery finally arrived on March 26, 2007. That morning Rosie, Dr. A’s cousin, picked me and another patient up from the Holiday Inn Express (in Eagle Pass, Tx) at 11:00 a.m. We drove about 10 minutes to Dr. A’s office in Piedras Negras, Mx. His office was quite nice and very professional – just as you would expect in an American doctor’s office. He greeted us with a huge smile and a hug. I was so happy to finally meet him: I immediately felt comfortable and safe with him as my surgeon. I had a private question and answer meeting with him. After the meeting, we took a short walk to the hospital as Dr. A’s office is just in front of the hospital entrance. Dr. A was kind enough to carry my luggage to my room. When we got to the hospital, everything was already taken care of… we just went straight to our rooms. It was great! I was given a hospital gown and told to change. Dr. A informed me that I would be the first to the OR as I was the youngest. He also told me that a lab technician would come to my room within a few minutes to take a blood sample. Once the lab results came back, I’d be ready for surgery! Sure enough, moments later I had my blood drawn. About ½ hour after I was off to the OR! While in the OR Dr. A did everything to make me more comfortable. He even had great music playing in the background. He talked and otherwise distracted me as the anesthesiologist inserted my IV. Once the IV was in place, Dr. A told me that a mask was going to be placed over my face. The next thing I remember was being wheeled back into my room. rnOver the course of the next two days, I was given superb care by Dr. A and the nursing staff. The nurses were like clockwork. I NEVER had to ask for pain medication because the nurses arrived before the pain would begin again. In addition to pain killers, I was also given blood thinners and antibiotics. Communication also was not an issue because I was given a sheet with basic requests; it also allowed me to practice my Spanish. Dr. A came to check on me 4 times each day. He was wonderful. Always kind, gentle, helpful, and never without a smile on his face. I never felt as though my treatment or care was somehow inadequate. Also, while the hospital itself is older, all modern equipment was available in the case an emergency occurred in the OR. Note too that Dr. A did an amazing job with the incisions. All are as tiny as possible and have healed beautifully.rnNote too that I have never encountered a Doctor that is as dedicated to his patients as Dr. A. If you call him, he will talk to you and answer any questions you have. If you email him, he will respond within hours. He takes special care to remove all or most of the stomach fundus so as to reduce future stretching. Further, he has a unique procedure where he uses three rows of staples and stitches between the staple lines. This technique eliminated the need for a drainage tube and has resulted in a ZERO percent leakage rate. In all honesty, I feel as though I received much better care and more attention than any patient in the U.S. My only complaint is that my hospital room was warm and I missed my own pillows. I suggest you bring a small fan and a pillow if you can fit them in your suitcase. If you are contemplating VSG I highly recommend Doctor Alvarez. After my experience even my mother, a registered nurse, is thinking about having the surgery with Dr. A!!!rn

It is totally impossible to say as much needs to be said about Dr. Alvarez. I am a nurse and I have of course encountered many doctors and surgeons in my time. None have ever been as personable, likeable and downright charming as Dr. Alvarez. From the minute he walked into the office he had a huge smile on his face and I never once saw him without that smile. He seemed to have all the time in the world for me to answer any questions and even to make my laptop work becuase i was not able to get the wireless connection to connect. So he fixed that for me too!!!rnIf you cold hear someone coming down the hall ofthe hospital and you could hear whistling, it was sure to be Dr. Alvarez. And he comes to check on us a lot. I had to have seen him at least 4 times afer my surgery. While I was waiting for my turn i started to get nervous. While in the OR and they were prepping everything and getting my IV started he sat beside me and held my hand and talked to me about everything was going to be just fine and he was going to take good care of me. rnThe staff is also fantastic, although they speak no English they do make every effort to get their point across to you and they are right on time with every pain med and nausea med you are to get. They never did come and make me go for a walk but i was up doing that on my own. The hospital is old, but dont make any mistake, it is VERY clean and the things that need to be technologically advanced are. The OR had all the right equipment and I felt they were prepared to deal with any suprise that could have come up. The rooms were less advanced, of course the cable was out while I was there, but i am not one for TV anyways. rnI would not hesitate to return to Dr. Alvarez or Piedras negras for any aftercare I will need. I was very impressed with Rosie our driver and her husband Javier...just plain wonderful people. Make you feel at ease from the moment you meet them at the airport. Then you meet the doctor and the staff and everything is just good....the fear vanished for me and I knew I was in the right place.

Dr. Alvarez has the best bedside manners I've ever experienced. He was extremely knowledgeable. He came to visit me several times each of the 2 days I was in the hospital. He shows genuine concern for his patients. As for his surgical competence, the man is just awesome. My 5 incisions are very small and neat. I have had no pain from them at all. I was up and walking the day after surgery with no problems. I'm 5 days post op and I have resumed to my normal activities. I would rate Dr. Alvarez a 20 out of 10. He has exceeded my expectations of him. I would recommended him to anyone having any weight loss procedure, especially the VSG. He has performed hundreds of VSGs with no mortalities or leaks. He's one of the best VSG surgeons in the nation.

Dr. Alvarez is a wonderful surgeon, compassionate physician and overall fantastic human being. I see why others on OH call him \"Dr. Hottie\" because he is a real cutie-pie! Most of my research I had done beforehand of my aftercare and I am very proactive and disciplined so this won't be a problem for me. I know the American Doc's have support groups that you can attend weekly, but my support groups are online where I have found a wealth of knowledge and compassion from my fellow bandsters. The risks of surgery were explained, but again, I did my homework beforehand so I knew what to expect. Future patients should know that he is more than qualified, is young but is trained in the latest techniques and procedures both at Baylor in Dallas as well as in France. The price can't be beat. He is the lowest cost provider in Mexico currently and that was a very important factor for me since I was self pay. Also, being right across the border from Texas makes him very accessible without having to pay for airfare. All in all, I would rate my experience a 9.75 out of a 10. My husband is scheduled for July for the band with him, and I am working on several other members of my family to get it as well from Dr. Alvarez. I would not have my husband go through with this if I didn't have complete confidence in Dr. Alvarez and the facility. We have 3 small children who need their parents. Mucho, mucho gracias Dr. Alvarez!!

My first impression of Dr. Alvarez was that he is a kind hearted man who truly loves his job. He and his staff made me feel comfortable and calm. He was VERY thorough in answering my questions and even brought up some I hadn't thought about. I truly felt that I was in very competent and capable hands. His staff was very friendly and kind as well. On a scale of 1-10, I give him a 20! His bedside manner was great and I had no doubts at all about my decision to have him as my surgeon. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. The only down side to my entire experience was the lack of english speaking nurses. However, Dr. Alvarez supplied me with a list of common requests in English/Spanish and that made it a lot easier to communicate with the staff. We also had Rosie there to help out with translations as well. All in all, an excellent experience!

My first impression of Dr. Alvarez was..WOW, what doctor goes beyond the call of duty like he does? I never have to wait to hear back from him in my emails, within an hour or so he has responded and answered my questions. He wants his patients to be happy, that is his first and formost concern and he makes sure any way he can that you are happy. He returns his calls almost immediately and I find him to be the most compassionate doctor I have dealt with, in my entire life. No doctor can even compare to this man, you have to experience his compassion to know this, he loves his work and he loves his patients, that is obvious in his every word and action.rnOf all my research on this doctor, there is not one thing negative I could find, nor have I heard any negative word spoke about him. I am so looking forward to him being my surgeon.rn

I had surgery on Dec. 28th. 2006. To date I have lost almost 30 pounds in just one month. I am thrilled with all that Dr. Alvarez did. He was so professional and the experience was far greater than I had even hoped for. I would recomend Dr. Alvarez to any one wanting bariatric surgery. I actually was never in any pain at all, and the staff was so helpful. Check out Dr. Alvarez and his staff you will be very pleased you did. Connie Hedrick, NC

Hi, my name is Nancy Rogus and I live in the Houston, Texas area and Dr. Alvarez performed my vertical sleeve on Dec. 9, 2006. I can't say enough wonderful things about his professionlism and bedside manner. From the moment I met him he explained everything in great detail answering all my questions. His staff were great as well. My surgery went extremely well and I am one month post op today and have lost 19 lbs. A few days after I left the hospital I e-mailed Dr. Alvarez with a problem I was having with heartburn and within just a few hours he answered me and gave me the medication to take care of it. He is extremely responsive to any questions I had. If you are considering gastric sleeve surgery look no further than Dr. Alvarez, he is a great doctor!

My first impression of Dr. Alvarez was that he was friendly, warm, outgoing, and very receptive to my silly questions or quirks. Jokingly I asked if he could take a picture of me in surgery, and he said he would give me a copy of the DVD which was to be recorded as part of the medical record of my surgery!rnrnMy impression over time has not changed. Shortly after surgery, he came to check on me, even though he had 3 other surgeries scheduled right after mine. He visited me every day of the 3 days I was in the hospital, and was always warm and very sweet in his demeanor.rnrnHis office staff (non-hospital) were wonderful as well. They worked with me continually from the beginning of my research through the end of my surgery, and we still communicate frequently.rnrnThere is NOTHING that I disliked about him.rnrnFuture patients of his should know that regardless of where he performs the surgery, they will be well taken care of and VERY SATISFIED. He is the most accomodating and personable doctor I have ever met.rnrnDr. ALvarez is very specific about aftercare. He explains everything you must know and do, several times if necessary, to ensure that you have the greatest success possible.rnrnAs far as a structured aftercare program, Dr. Alvarez provides you with a copy of your medical file, should you ever need to see a doctor after you go home. Included is a specific breakdown of what to do and what not to do, as well as how your new diet should be implemented and at what time intervals. He includes his personal contact information, and he always responds quickly when contacted.rnrnRegarding the risks of surgery, Dr. ALvarez is very clear that all surgeries have associated risks. But by the same token, he reassures you by answering any questions you have, and his surgery history speaks for itself. He has performed over 250 surgeries, and all have been successful, surgically speaking.rnrnOverall, he is phenomenal, and that's a lot for me to say, because I can be an obsessive-compulsive-neurotic, enough to make Jesus Christ throw his hands up in the air and say, \"I give up!\"rnrnDr. Alvarez is basically equal on all grounds, from his surgical competence to his bedside manner. He is so great, I am currently trying to convice my 2 older obese aunts to have surgery with him.

My surgeon has been calling me directly and answering my questions. He has been great and I can't wait for my suregery on the 12th of Jan.