Hi everyone!

My name is Michell. I am officially sch for my vertical sleeve on 12/12/12!!!!! Best date, best surgery EVER!!

I am very new to this forum and would love to talk to others with an upcoming December surgery...

Hi everyone!

My name is Michell. I am officially sch for my vertical sleeve on 12/12/12!!!!! Best date' date=' best surgery EVER!!

I am very new to this forum and would love to talk to others with an upcoming December surgery...[/quote']

Hi! I have a surgery scheduled for Dec. 3rd with doctor Alvarez in, well I forget the name of it, but we cross the border in Eagle Pass Texas.

Oh nice! Please contact me afterwards so I can hear about your experience!!

I will! I'm so excited! :-)

Hi! I have a surgery scheduled for Dec. 3rd with doctor Alvarez in, well I forget the name of it, but we cross the border in Eagle Pass Texas.

Dr Alvarez is doing my sleeve December 21. \o/

I am with Dr Garcia on Dec 4th! Merry Christmas to me!!

Dr Alvarez is doing my sleeve December 21. \o/

Yay! Aren't you excited? He's such a good doctor. He comes highly recommended :-)

Yay! Aren't you excited? He's such a good doctor. He comes highly recommended :-)

My husband, daughter and myself are booked for December 24th with Dr. Garcia......in hospital for Christmas Day :-( lol

I am scheduled for a sleeve revision on Dec 6 with Dr Ortiz.

I am trying to decide right now whether to go with Dr. Alvarez, Aceves or Ortiz. It is agony making this decision. How did you make your decision?

I am trying to decide right now whether to go with Dr. Alvarez' date=' Aceves or Ortiz. It is agony making this decision. How did you make your decision?[/quote']

I've bounced around from all those surgeons as well... I was interested in Aceves and Alvarez because everyone raves about them, and I know they great surgeons, but I would have to save up another year or so to go with one of them and I want the surgery as soon as I can get it. I was for certain that I was going to go with Ortiz after that because hes about $2000 cheaper than Alvarez and Aceves... That was until I asked how many sleeves he has done, and I was told around 500. I don't doubt that he's an awesome surgeon, but he's mainly known for Lapband and now plication surgery (which I absolutely do not want to get) so I started looking into other surgeons like Dr. Garcia and Dr. Lopez. I've read a lot of wonderful things about them both. I've been speaking with coordinators from alighterme, and they have been wonderful. Dr. Lopez has done over 3,000 sleeves and if I'm not mistaken, has never had a leak. He also works with his wife who is a bariatric surgeon as well, so you're getting two for the price of one! Haha plus it was more along my price range... It was a little under $5000. I'm sure whichever surgeon you choose, it will be a good choice.

I am trying to decide right now whether to go with Dr. Alvarez' date=' Aceves or Ortiz. It is agony making this decision. How did you make your decision?[/quote']

I was originally scheduled with Dr. Aceves. Someone from my church went to him and had great success! He couldn't say enough wonderful things about him, his staff, and the hospital. I did notice though that he had done 2500 lap bands and 1600 sleeves. To me that meant that sleeves weren't his specialty. I could be wrong. Also I know he's an excellent doctor. Then I kept seeing. Dr. Alvarez's name pop up on these boards. I looked him up out of curiosity. He's done 3700 sleeves and only 10 leaks. He's written a book on sleeves, which I downloaded and bought. Then i called Susan and she answered all my questions. And then I decided, for my own reasons, to switch. They are both great doctors. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

Originally I was going to get banded by Dr Ortiz but had insurance to cover it. When I started looking at converting to the sleeve I called his coordinator Lori and asked how many sleeves Dr Ortiz had done. I dont recall the number, but it was quite satisfactory.

I am trying to decide right now whether to go with Dr. Alvarez, Aceves or Ortiz. It is agony making this decision. How did you make your decision?

It was definitely hard choosing. I looked at a number of things like reviews on each doctor from real people and following their losses and/or complicatinos, their specialty and how many procedures they'd done, etc. I also looked here and didn't research anyone that was below a 7. I also liked that Dr Alvarez has a presence on twitter and youtube... feels like a more robust program aimed at educating people about the procedure and making sure they get great care. He just seemed to go the extra mile and not be about 'come here, it's really cheap."

Location was also important and since the friend that is going with me lives in Texas, it was just much simpler for me to choose Dr Alvarez and then return to Houston, rest up for a few days and then fly home.

When it looked like I might not have enough money, I considered going elsewhere but I just couldn't make myself do that.

I went to Dr. A...you will do great. He is an awesome surgeon! If you have any questions just pm me!

December 4 with Dr. Garcia! Excited, obsessed, nervous....just want to get this done!