Mark Watson Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

five years banded!!! I feel great, look fantastic and loving life. I've lost well over 100 lbs and have kept it off. This is the only thing that ever worked. The band don't fail you, you fail the band. if you work your tool it WILL work. Remember to chew,chew and chew.

Dr. Watson is very professional as is his office staff! Would recommend him to anyone! If you can't answer his questions about why you should be a canidate for surgery he may turn you down.

I haven't met him yet, just been assigned.

Although I only saw Dr. Watson for a few minutes at my first consultation, he was very thorough with describing the procedure and complications and made sure I didn't have any questions. He told me to be sure and write out a list of questions for the next time if I have any more. I absolutely LOVE the team..Michelle, the nutrionist and Lois, his nurse are wonderful!!

I contacted Dr. Watsons office in late January of 2006. I filled out my packet they sent me and was schedualed for an appointment in March of 2006. I loved Dr. Watson! I had brought my then 18 month old (now 20 months old) and my husband along with me. And Dr. Watson and his staff were so warm to my family and he encourage me to ask questions! I finally got my insurance approval on 5-23! So I'm awating my surgery date! I couldn't be more excited that Dr. Watson is doing my lap band! I can't wait for it to be schedualed! rnrnI'll post again after my surgery:) rn

Dr. Watson is a straight shooter. My first consult with him was very informative. Tons of information. I liked the fact that he encouraged me to ask questions. No warm fuzzies; but I prefer competence over that anyday!

What a great guy! Very down to earth, dry sense of humor (which I love!) I spoke to several nurses who worked in various areas and it amazed me that EVERY ONE of them had nothing but great things to say about his work. One RN told me that she didn't know him personally, but that all of his patients that she helped to recover, all healed nicely, the cuts and scars looked clean and from the looks of it, he does great work. If that isn't a compliment, I don't know what is!

First impression was that he was smug and didn't really have a personality. Over the course of a few appointments, I realized that he was an introvert and he is actually a really nice person. He is an expert in his field and he completed my procedure without hesitation and without problems. Excellent job Dr. Watson!

The staff were like your normal office staff, they seemed overworked and busy. The dietician, insurance coordinator, and nurse were very accomodating and helped me to do what I needed expeditiously.

The thing that did set me back a bit was the failure to notify me that I should entertain a liquid diet for 2 weeks pre-op. It was partly my fault but if they would have spoken up, I would have at least had 7 days of liquids. Instead I went in with 1 day of liquids and I had 4 days in hospital filled with phenagren and steroid injections. I am great now, so no worries.

I would highly recommend Dr. Watson to anyone who wants a minimal amount of scarring and a faultless procedure. He is truly a blessing to his field.

The aftercare program consists of several visits with the Dr. and dietician. So I guess you could say that they just don't plan on letting you figure things out. They said they are always a phone call away.

The risks of surgery were not hidden, in fact this is the first thing we discussed. Being a lard butt for most of my life made me feel half dead anyway and the risk of death didn't do much to scare me.

Overall I would give the office and the doctor an 11 on a scale of 1-10....

Surgical competence is always better when it comes to cutting around vital areas. Bedside manner is not even close to competence. I can deal with someone not talking as long as they can do the procedure without hesitation or complications.

I would repeat the procedure in a second.

Insurance was a pain in the a$$ as usual but be relentless in your pursuit and your efforts just might pay off...Mine did!!!!!!!

Good Luck!

I contacted the bariatric center at UT Southwestern Medical Center and filled out their information packet, sent it in, and got an appointment for April 20th.

I was seeing Dr. Watson in Dr. Provost's office. I was SOOO nervous! But as soon as I set eyes on him, I calmed down considerably. He was SO NICE and answered all my questions, even ENCOURAGED me to ask them. I explained all of my health issues and he did an exam and then I saw the insurance guy (I have Medicare, and they do the surgery first and file the claim after the fact-- BUT the insurance guy told me that if Dr. Watson didn't think it was medically necessary and that Medicare would pay for it, I wouldn't even be sitting there talking to him.) the dietician, and the nurse, who set me up to have a sonogram of my gall bladder, and gave me a tentative surgery date of May 23rd!

My gall bladder looked fine, but I do have a cyst on my kidney, so I am having a cat scan done on that this Wednesday. (the 4th of May) Hopefully that will be fine and things will go ahead as planned for the 23rd!

I am relieved that I have chosen lap band... I know that it isn't as quick with such dramatic results as gastric bypass, but, I would prefer to lose the weight slower and hopefully have less issue with excess/loose skin, and also so it will STAY OFF. My main reason though for choosing lap band however, was that I just was not ready to to slice and dice my intestines. Not yet, anyway. Heh.

Anyhow, hopefully this helps someone. Thus far, I completely reccomend Dr. Watson. I am just counting down to the 23rd! 3 WEEKS AWAY!

He seemed capable

It increased

Good, but over-extended

The only negative of any kind was misjudging the amt of time in surgery
He is great!

Very much

Yes

Yes, very clearly

A+A+A+A+

Both great