Hugh Houston Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

I had a lap band ( different surgeon) that literally about finished me off both mentally and physically. Enter Dr Houston!!!! He knew I had my heart set on a sleeve even though it would be difficult, if not impossible due to complications from the band. Guess what???? SUCCESSFUL SLEEVE, and I assure you that FEW surgeons could have accomplished this. My life has been totally changed. Dr H doesn’t enable non compliance, and that is a good thing. He fixes our body, it is up to us to follow the plan!!!! If you are searching for a bariatric surgeon, look no further. Dr. Houston is your guy!!!!! The best of the best!

There are so many things I would like to say about this joke of a surgeon, but I will stick to the facts.
1. He performed a lap gastric bypass on me on 6/31/2015. Had continuous problems from day one, all of which he would respond that nothing was wrong with his 'perfect little pouch" and that my right-sided pain could have absolutely nothing to do with the surgery because you'd only have pain on the left (hernia etc.) Was treated by his choice of GI specialist who never told the truth. Kept getting lies from Houston, went to Vanderbilt GI specialists, all of which never told the truth of the pouch size.

2. On 8/14/17, I went to an independent GI Specialist who scoped me and then informed me that I did not in fact have a gastric pouch. I had about 1 cm of gastric tissue that was not capable of holding any amount of liquids or solids. Everything has been dumping into my small intestine which is why I get dumping syndrome with anything I eat and nauseous all the time.I have medical documentation and pictures to verify this. Talked to another surgeon about revising to a DS, and had surgery scheduled until he scoped me himself and saw I had even less tissue than 1 CM and he would most likely have to cut into my chest to pull my esophagus down just to have enough tissue to be able to reconnect my blind stomach. Risky and complicated to say the lest. Having to go out of state to do this because no one in TN and only a handful of bariatric surgeons in general are qualified to do revisions, especially of this complexity.

3. 1/12/18, successfully had my revision surgery to a DS without any complications, thank God and my brilliant surgeon in California. But guess what he found during surgery? A huge internal hernia. He said it was so large it had been growing for several years. It had started on the left side. but had completely folded over the right bowel. So this hernia developed pretty soon after my gastric bypass surgery. But Dr. Houston stated a hernia was not possible. Wouldn't even think of exploring it. Hmm what a great surgeon. He thinks he knows everything but actually knows very little.

So to sum it up. I went to Dr. Houston and trusted him under anesthesia to preform the surgery I consented to--a gastric bypass..Who would ever agree to less than 1 cm of gastric tissue instead of the gastric pouch suppose to be the size of a man's thumb? Not Me!!! And after all the times I kept telling him about my issues and pain, seeing specialists, turns out I had a hernia but he could never admit to that. He has to be right above all else. I don't know if a mistake happened during my surgery as to why I was not given a proper gastric pouch. After I found out the truth, he would never return my calls. He is a very condescending and bullies you until you are afraid to say anything. I've already took action on this, I'm only posting this review now in hopes of stopping this from happening to another person. I wouldn't wish what I've been through on my worst enemy. One of the worst things though is how I was made to feel like this was all in my head and if I just followed the diet right I wouldn't have these issues.This has taken a physical, mental, and financial toll on me and my family. If I can stop one person from going through this, then posting this has been worth it. I know he's had successful patient outcomes, but I wonder how many negative outcomes are out there like me that have went under the radar? This is a big surgery and you need to make sure you pick the best surgeon who cares about your outcome not just his bottom line. One thing I can tell you, in TN it's very hard to get another bariatric surgeon to see you after you've been cut on by another. One of the biggest things I've learned throughout this whole mess is YOU HAVE TO BE YOUR OWN HEALTH ADVOCATE!

Please note I am 1 year and 1 month post surgery. My first appointment with Dr. Hugh Houston was a pleasant experience. He answered all the questions I had that were not covered in the seminar and in a way I fully understood the surgery procedures and possible risks. I had complete confidence in Dr. Houston the day I went to surgery and I still have confidence in him. He has excellent bedside manners and is a caring professional. I had a revision and have successively lost 116+ lbs. of the 130 lbs. I wanted to lose. He has encouraged me every step of the journey. My follow-up care has been excellent with all concerns covered on each visit.
The staff at the clinic are fantastic and go out of the way to ensure your satisfaction concerning appoints and all other needs. The dietician and exercise groups are wonderful.
I highly recommend Dr. Houston as he is a compassionate and understands his patients needs.

Dr. Houston can not be beat. He is very straight forward. He is no nonsense strictly business and knows his stuff. I have had tremendous success with a very high starting weight of 533 lbs. I lost as much as 360 lbs. at one point which was too much. I have been maintaining my weight at 204 lbs. (I am 6' 4") for the last 3 years. I want to be about 215 to 220 lbs. If I were to do this again, There would be no other doctor for me but Dr. Hugh Houston. I think he is the best of the best hands down.

Dr. Houston is excellent and the staff at the clinic are wonderful as well. Thank you Dr. Houston!

Wonderful Dr. I had a lot of challenges with my band and had to get it removed. Doctor Houston was great. I would highly recommend. When I return to get my gastric bypass, he will be my first choice.

He is an excellent doctor and surgeon.

I had my surgery with Dr Houston on November 2, 2011. At that time I was 343 pounds. I was suffering from ailments that my parents were having, 20+ years my senior. I was dying.

By the time I had my 9 month check up with Dr. Houston, I had lost 170 lbs. I had also had additional surgeries to correct my bilateral cataracts. I had my first surgery scheduled to remove excess skin. At this time, I am almost two years out and I am maintaining. None of this would have been possible without support from Dr. Houston and the staff at Centennial.

There are many people who have mixed opinions about Dr. Houston. Some say he has o bedside manner. Some say he is tough. I will say that he cares very deeply about his patients and their success. He has personally answered calls and e-mails from me at all times. He has offered advice when needed during my journey. Recently when I developed a hernia, he offered a recommendation on where to get it fixed. He is known for taking the tough cases that other surgeons won't and is known for taking on other surgeons mistakes.

I could not recommend Dr. Houston strongly enough, or the entire Centennial family. The program works, if you are willing to let it.

I have been a paitence of Dr. Houston since April 2012. I was told in Oct. 2011 that I was to heavy at 472lbs by another WLS surgeon in Nashville. I was devastated and came home an started eating. In February of 2012,I walked into the Dr's office and stepped on the scale. The scale showed error. The nurse told me I was over 500 lbs. In the next few days Elizabeth called and asked if I was still interested in WLS. I told her what the other doctor told me about WLS. She said she would call me right back. Just in a few minutes Elizabeth called and told me Dr.Houston wanted to still see me.I set the appointment for April. When I first met Elizabeth in person you could tell she was passionate with people needing wls. I had lost down to 478 the day I saw Dr.Houston the first day. Dr.Houston explained all my options and answer all my questions. He even asked my wife several questions. We settle on a coarse of Acton and then Dr.Houston told me to meet with Holly to schedule a surgery date. I couldn't believe it. I told him what the other Doctor told me earlier about being to big for surgery. He told me to lose as much weight from now to the surgery day. He told me up front no guarantee of being able to do the surgery lyperscopic. I walked out of the office my wife asked me if I liked him. I asked her why she asked. She said you don't like doctors who are all business and so serious. So my wife and I asked one of the nurses about Dr houston and all she told me was if anything goes wrong Dr Houston is the person you want operating on you... Enought said... Dr Houston perform the surgery on July 17,2012. Everything went great and I was back in a room in a few hours. Dr Houston came in after the surgery and answer all my questions. I did have the lyperscopic surgery. I was home in 3 days because I lived 2.5 hours from Nashville. I went home on Friday and by Saturday morning I felt like I would bust open if I drank anymore water. I called Dr Houston number and left a message. He called back in less than 5 minutes. Sunday morning he called me to see how I was doing. Wow. Never had a Doctor to call me on his day off to check on me. Sunday about 5 I started hurting in my stomach an just figure I over did it at church. I got home and laid down and my wife wanted to cleaned my drain that was left in my stomach. She notice a foul smell and wanted me to call Dr Houston. I felt like a fool for bothering him on Saturday so I didn't want to bother him. My wife walk in the room about an hour later and said you call him now I can smell the infection as soon as I open the door. Again Dr Houston called Back in about 5 minutes. He said start toward Nashville and he would have a room waiting for me. Did some xrays to make sure no leaks, and started me on antibiotics. Do I blame him? NO. Infection happens. He was on top of the situation. The nurses in the hospital were awesome. They are so caring. Can't say enought good things about all the staff..... I would choose Dr Houston again in a heart beat. He has help me to restart living again. If your thinking about WLS call and talk to Dr.Houston.

Dr Hugh Houston made a mistake and cut a whole in my stomach during my surgery. He told me about complications of my lap band and would remove it and do a revision to a gastric sleeve. However, because of the mistake he made I could not get the gastric sleeve at that time. Dr Hugh Houston..lied about how the whole in my stomach happened. He told me that he found a whole.. which I then believed was caused by the lap band. I did not find out that he made the mistake until the discharge nurse asked me ...Do you know how you got the whole in your stomach? I said I assumed it was the lap band she said no that is not what happenend. You need to go to the Medical Records and get your medical records right away. I was so distraught... I heard him whispering at my door and he came in very defensively and said that he made a mistake and cut a whole in my stomach...I was so angry...What kind of a Surgeon lies about this! I got sick and had to be readmitted into the hospital... I felt so betrayed and angry... Why did he lie... Making mistakes on a human beings during surgery is unacceptable! Then lie about it! Only tell the truth once he is caught in a lie! I tried to go to another surgeon and they told me that because of the mistake he made on me I would have to pay and extra 2500 dollars for another speacialist just in case of complications. Another Dr office told me that usually if another surgeon works on you within 100 miles they usually wont see you. I felt shunned because of his mistake...And just so you know Lawyers do not like to take cases like this unless you are dying or permanant damage is caused or your dead... But I still dont know if complications with scar tissue is going to be an issue in the future. I feel like what about me! His receptionist was rude to me! His nurse was defensive towards me when I came for my followup... Now I am stuck with medical bills that I refuse to pay! It's a constant reminder of what happended to me... I feel guilty or like it's my fault for choosing him as a surgeon.. If I had only researched him better or picked up on this or that that he said.. One statement that he made to me was that why do you want to lose weight Black men like thick women... was he patronizing me or what? I was almost 300lbs I dont know I will let you do the math. They were suppose to reverse some of the charges for some of my bills .. One of his staff was caring towards me and said that they were going to take off some of the charges.I am not sure if even that was done. I am a honest person and do not want this to happen to anyone what else... Beware. Of course everything that I have told you is true but I am going to say this a) balance your negative comments with those that might be positive or neutral, b) explicitly state that these were just your personal impressions of your own personal experience and that you are making no statements about what other people may experience. I am sad and fat and angry! But truthfull.. Becareful when you choose a surgeon