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Aceves and Alvarez- What makes them worth twice as Garcia or Alvarez or Ponce De Leon?

  1. gemini*eyes
    gemini*eyes
    Aceves and Alvarez ...What makes them worth twice as Garcia or Alvarez or Ponce De Leon? I barely have $2500 saved. Has anyone hads success with getting financed for a portion with bad credit for any of these docs?
  2. shereebarb
    shereebarb
    I was sleeved on 8/31 with Dr. Garcia. Absolutely no regrets. I woke up with virtually no pain, no nausea. And less than 3 weeks later i am down 26 lbs.
  3. Phoenixrise
    Phoenixrise
    I know you probably can get financed through No Patient Left Behind. I paid $3,800, I put a $700 deposit and then I financed $3,100 with my credit card and when I was price shopping I was WONDERING THE SAME THING like why Ortiz, Aceves, etc. were so high verses other doctors if they all preformed the same surgery and claimed to be doing the same thing as far as service. At the end it was worth it. If you have $2,500 saved you have a good chunk of it depending where you go you have a little over half saved.
  4. Phranquie
    Phranquie
    I was sleeved six weeks ago by Dr. Almanza and have had no issues at all. I believe that his group has a link to a financial lending company for those who want credit to pay. Other than a hotel room the night before the surgery there were no additional costs. The recovery house has all food and medical staff that you would need and the price you pay includes all transportation to San Diego airport. The only additional money I spent is when they took us out shopping two days after surgery.
  5. Ready4Change2
    Ready4Change2
    I'm getting sleeved with Dr. Garcia on 10/5 and I am using my FSA flexible spending account with my job. But, before I knew I could do that, I applied with "No patient Left Behind." I was told I had to pay a $200 or $250 deposit to hold my funding, then put 50% down which the $200-250 was part of the half down and I would have payments I think it was 24/48 months of payments in the amount of $47 and some change. Not bad. What scared me from that was I didn't want all the finance charges that came along with it. So I opted to sign up for my FSA. Make sure you ask questions if you go the NPLB route. Know your total finance charges and if the takes them before sending your money. NPLB, only gives you the list of approved doctors after you send the holding deposit. Dr. Almanza is on their list and at the time he was only $4500.
    Just a lil fyi on another note if anyone is interested in checking it out: I've also heard you can get paid through your short term disability for the time you have after surgery. Haven't tested that yet, just heard.
  6. gemini*eyes
    gemini*eyes
    Thanks for all the replies. You guys are so helpful. However. No Patient Left Behind is not for me. In the end they wanted to charge me $1500 just to borrow $2500. That doesn't include the 19% interest either. They also charge the surgeon a fee of $750 bucks. So basically they make $2250 just to loan me $2500... WOWZA! Most of the surgeons won't pay that fee so you wont get many options as to who will do the surgery. I have read many horror stories about NPLB.. But I appreciate the info just the same. I think I will just save and wait and wait and save and wait some more.. LOL! I'll get there evenutally.. I just wanted it .. like yesterday already!
  7. hope4me
    hope4me
    I just hope all works out for you, So that you can get what you need sooner than later.
  8. Restored
    Restored
    I have been asking myself the same question. I am having surgery with Dr Rod at Star Medica in Mexico and the cost is 7100.00. I dont know how I overlooked the 4500.00 price that so many others mention on this site. I would have loved to save the 2600.00 but I guess perhaps im getting what I paid for. ???
  9. cdjourney
    cdjourney
    I'm paying out of pocket to get sleeved by Dr. Aceves. For me it's more a matter of location. It's easier for me travel by car to him than to head to TJ. Besides I'm paranoid about TJ. I definitely wouldn't mind saving $3K-$4K. Oh we'll.
  10. Texas Girl
    Texas Girl
    Personally, I don't think there's any difference in the actual surgery you're getting between any of these surgeons, honestly. I did opt to pay more to go with Dr Ortiz (though not as much as Aceves or Alvarez), but for me it's not about the surgery itself being worth more, but I absolutely feel it's worth the peace of mind that I will be at an International Center of Excellence IF there are any complications (and those can happen anywhere - it's surgery!).

    Oh, and this may be just me, but I didn't like the fact that Almanza and Quinones use stitches that need to be removed once you're back home. I know that in and of itself isn't a really big deal, but the fact of the matter is, that is NOT a current, state of the art practice. I had surgery over 5 years ago and my stitches were dissolvable, back then. It just made me wonder what other instruments, equipment, etc. they might be using that is "out of date". Not that it's bad equipment, but I'm just a bit of a wuss and if I'm going out of the country for surgery, I want to know my surgeon is up to date with the most modern and state of the art EVERYTHING and he's able to deal with anything that may happen.

    In the end, those patients who choose the cheaper surgeons are just as sleeved as those who choose the more expensive ones. It's all about your own peace of mind and what you're comfortable with!
  11. itchycat55
    itchycat55
    It's all about research and responsibility, seeking a good doctor at a fair price. Some include your hotel stay in the costs, so you need to keep that in mind. I went with ALighterMe and was impressed with the super customer service they provide.
  12. DragonsLoard
    @ Texas Girl, FYI Dr. Quinones does internal stitches and then uses DERMABOND liquid skin adhesive that holds wound edges together, to seal the incision...
  13. Texas Girl
    Texas Girl
    @ DragonsLoard - thanks for the clarification, although that's a little confusing to me, because I've had a couple of his recent patients tell me that they needed their stitches removed once they got back home (Enfury8me is one I know of for sure).
  14. cdjourney
    cdjourney
    I just had surgery with Dr. Aceves and the care was top notch. He and his team attended to me regularly. I speak Spanish fluently but didn't find the need to speak it with them. Many, if not all of the nurses spoke English very well. The hospital was very clean and I had my own room. I had another major surgery sometime last year in the states and they didn't tend to me nor explain every detail as thoroughly as Dr. Aceves' team did. I highly recommend them.
  15. Joanne1958
    Joanne1958
    Do NOT go to Almanza!!
  16. Lcardullo
    Lcardullo
    I did a lot of research and was going to use Dr. Almanaza but there were too many things that gave me reason to pause. When I compared him to Dr. Alvarez there was no question in my mind that I was going to use Dr. Alvarez. Some of the things that I was not comfortable with are - Dr. Almanaza leaves the staples in. Dr. Alvarez uses disolving stitches intenally and puts steri strips on the outside. I have type two diabetes and I was concerned about healing and infection. I found many posts about patients who had some healing and infection issues and I did not want to take chances. The availability to thoroughly review qualifications. I had a hard time finding detailed information about Dr. Almanaza's qualifications but found a wealth of information on Dr. Allvarez - including a write up in Newsweek naming him one of the top 10 bariatric surgeons. Another issue is that Dr. Almanaza does surgery in a clinic and you spend only one night before going to the hotel. That may be fine if there are no complications but what if there are? Thank God I went to Dr. Alvarez! I did have complications. Not related to the surgery per se but I found that I have a bleeding disorder and the night of my surgery my blood pressure dropped significantly - I could not even get out of bed to use the bathroom. I was in a hospital with a full ICU (not that I needed it) and they had the facilities to diagnose and treat my issue. I bled internally and required 4 transfusions over the course of 4 days. There was no additional charge for the treatment, blood, drugs, hosptial. The staff monitored my vitals every two hours around the clock. The doctor personally saw me at least four times each day. Posts on Dr. Almanaza say that someone (not the doctor) checked on them and "there was always someone to translate. I just didn't want to deal with that. I traveled alone and I never felt alone. Dr. Alvarez is so kind and caring. When my belly turned deep purple from the bleeding, he held my hand and reasurred me that while it looked horrid, the bleeding had stopped and they would keep me there until I was well enough to travel. He called my husband every day to give him an update on my condition and also called my dear friend who is a nurse practitioner to discuss with her. I could not have been more pleased with the care I received and I thank God I made the decision to schedule with Dr. Alvarez. He had emailed me regularly to check on my progress and communicates when it is time to move to the next phase of the diet. I know there is a big difference in price. It was a hard nut for me to swallow....but I shudder to think how this might have went if I were in a clinic.

    Do your research and good luck!!!

    Linda
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