Alvarez, Garcia, Kelly Or Aceves?

[windycitymom 60]

Who is the better doctor and what do you know from your research, just taking a poll? I prefer to be in a hospital. Tell me your results and experiences.

[Foxbins 625]

Well, I am clearly biased due to my easy recovery and great results with Dr. Aceves. If you can afford him, go. 3 nights in the hospital, the night before surgery in a hotel. I had little pain, no nausea or vomiting, and no complications. At goal in 8 months and below goal now.

[windycitymom 60]

Wow impressive. Can I ask what made you chose Aceves?

[lacanosafl 0]

I was sleeved 1/9/12 by Dr. Hector Perez in Cancun, mexico. I would recomment him to anyone. He did some of his training at the University of Miami. He has done lots of the larparoscopic sleeve surgerys. I talked to people that he had operated on, one happened to be close to where I live here in Florida. She had nothing but rave reviews of Dr. Perez. I liked the the idea is having it done in Cancun verses other mexican towns. I did go to the Amerimed Hospital, which was as clean if not cleaner that hospitals in the US. Even though I cant speek spanish, we were able to communicate with the nurse's quite well. Dr. Perez speeks wonderful english. He spends time with you not like the Dr.s here do. Arrived in Cancun on Sunday afternoon to a waiting van to take me to the Westin Hotel on the beach, then the next morning they picked us up at the hotel and took us to the hospital at about 5:30 a.m. and by 9;30, I was on the table. My wife had a large sofa to sleep on the she stayed with me till wednesday a.m. when the van took us back to the hotel. We stayed there from wednesday to friday a.m. then the van took us to the airport for our trip home to Destin, Fl. I would recommend the Dr., the surgery to anyone thinking of a weight loss surgery. I have 5 little slits in my stomach where the instruments were inserted and I even have a video of the procedure they did on me. Total cost to me was $8,100.00. The only thing Ihad to pay for was for my wife to fly.

[SpaceyCasey 97]

I went with aceves. Your gonna pay a little bit more with him but it's worth it. Im 3 weeks post op and feel great, i had a super fast recovery and everybody there was so nice!

[SmilinGal 11]

Windy City Mom- I thought you already scheduled your surgery. Isn't your surgery the day before mine with Dr. Aceves? You made an excellent choice of Doctor based on my extensive research- no need to start second guessing your choice now! Been there, done that. Are you getting nervous? I will pm you my phone number if you want to talk.

[windycitymom 60]

Yes, I did, I am starting to wonder if I did enough research..

[KellyL 173]

I went with Dr Kelly and had an absolutely wonderful experience. I had a super easy and speedy recovery, I couldn't believe how well I was doing the first couple of days after surgery. I had minimal pain, no nausea, no throwing up. My sister could not believe how good I looked and felt and how easy it was for me to get around. She swore I looked better after surgery than I did before! I have seen a lot of patients that went to different Dr's describe more pain, issues with swallowing and throat pain, trouble getting around and it was shocking how different recovery with Dr Kelly is. I have noticed this is the case with many other Dr Kelly patients. My day by day experience is on my profile if you would like to see it.

Having said all that, all of the Surgeons you are asking about have really good reputations and have been on these forums for yrs, except for Dr Garcia. While he has had recent patients report having good experiences, he has only been discussed on the forums for a few months. Please do your research on how long each surgeon has been performing the Sleeve surgery. I think Dr Garcia is pretty new. Everyone has to start somewhere, I understand that, but when a person is paying cash and going to MX, looking at a Surgeons experience is very important.

Good luck on your weight loss journey!

[jenni_867 14]

I went with dr. kelly and had a good experience. I also researched aceves and Alvarez. I was turned down by Alvarez because my bmi was too low. The deciding factor to go with Dr.Kelly was cost. Aceves was a bit more money, but they both had excellent reviews. I was confident in my choice, even the cost was less.

I hadn't even heard of Garcia until after my surgery (nov 2011) and I had been looking into the surgery for well over a year.

I think you've made a good choice.

[windycitymom 60]

Thanks all, I really appreciate the input!

[5DogMa 62]

They are all great choices. Have heard great things about all of them. My daughter and I loved Dr. Garcia and the staff at Hospital MI Doctor. I felt they were equally good and in some cases even better than my doctor and hospital here in the US. Dr. Garcia is warm and friendly and so are the nurses. Here in the US they were always rushed and under-staffed both times I was in the hospital. There they seemed to take their time taking care of the patients and came quickly when we needed them. Good luck on your choice, I think any of those you mention will be a good choice.

[windycitymom 60]

Thanks for all the great input folks. I am headed to Mexicali to see Dr. Aceves on Sunday. I'll be sure to check in when I can.

[sirensiren 67]

My close friend recently went to Dr. Garcia after I recommended Dr. Kelly (my surgeon), but she received a call from A Lighter Me that they would have to move her to Dr. Garcia or give her deposit back- she chose Dr. Garcia. She was quite happy with the whole experience- until she had massive drain pains at home, signs of pneumonia (turned out to be OK, thank God!), but she spent DAYS not being able to get ahold of Dr. Garcia. Sandy, or anyone at A Lighter Me. This is NOT alright- these were symptoms of something serious.

Even now, Dr. Kelly responds to my e-mails and questions within 30 minutes to 2 hours after I write them. When I had a concern after surgery (a simple medication allergy) he called my within 20 minutes (on a Sunday!) and spoke to me at length about how to go off the medication and what to pick up at Rite Aid here in the states. He sent me an e-mail to follow-up that night as well. I don't think there is a perfect choice of surgeon, but I am much happier with the way Dr. Kelly personally handled my care vs. what my good friend experienced with ALM and Dr. Garcia. I too went through ALM, but my experience was quite professional- I was confident in recommending them to her. I am just glad she is OK, but her incisions are less neat than mine, and one is sewn in a way that will not allow it to lie flat after healing.

I can only recommend Dr. Kelly based on my own individual experience- it's rare to hear anyone on this board truly regret going to one of the popular surgeons in Mexico. Most of them are actually very experience, and thrive on the recommendations and raves of patients like us.

[Helen the Cat 42]

There have been many things said, lots of accusations (founded or unfounded), lots of conclusions (just or unjust) lots of hot tempers in a couple of previous threads about different surgeons, who is good, who is better, etc.

I don't have any inside information about any of the physicians discussed (in previous threads). But I would like to offer one suggestion to any individual doing research to help them make a decision regarding who will preform their surgery and where they will have the surgery done.

JCAHO is the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in the United States. It is a non profit organization that is continually working to improve hospitals and their practices. Any hospital that is JCAHO certified meets at least the minimum standards to be considered a safe facility. JCAHO also does accreditations outside the United States (internationally). If you are researching to decide who will preform your surgery, don't forget to research the facility that will be used! Check to see if they are JCAHO accredited. Regardless of WHO is doing your surgery, you want the facility that is going to be used to be SAFE. If the facility is not safe, it does not matter how good the surgeon is, he can only control his portion of the whole experience. You (I) want a facility where everything is certified to be SAFE, the lab, the nursing staff, the radiology department, the housekeeping department, medical records, the surgery department, the central supply department that sterilizes the instruments used in surgery, etc., etc., etc.

So when you talk about researching a doctor you are considering to preform your surgery, check out the facility where he practices. Is it JCAHO accredited? If not maybe you want to address this issue with the surgeon you are considering to preform your surgery.

For more information regarding JCAHO, check Wikipedia. They have a good article that explains JCAHO in detail.

[windycitymom 60]

Thanks, I'm done now. Just sleeved by Dr. aceves and couldnt' be happier.