I was very pleased with Dr. Watson's bedside manner and his staff. I have heard several people say that he is much more friendly and has a better bedside manner than Dr. Hodge, although Dr. Hodge is also an excellent Dr. I have BC/BS of TN insurance and I had to pay I believe it was $400.00 initially because BCBS had not approved the surgery. After the surgery was approved, I got a $300.00 check back from Dr. Watson's office. I payed $12.00 to the Psych Dr. that insurance did not pay and that was ALL I had to pay. My insurance payed for everything else, hospital bill, being put to sleep, everything. I was very fortunate. It did take a while to meet all the insurance requirements, like going to my PCP monthly to be weighed, showing that I could lose 10% of my body weight in 3 months but could not keep it off.... so I had to lose some weight and then gain it back. Anyway, after I had met all the insurance requirements which took about 8 months from my first office visit, it took another 3 months to get a surgery date with Dr. Watson. If Dr. Hodge had been my Dr., I could have had it done in about 3-4 weeks. Does this say anthing about Dr. Watson's caseload and bedside manner. I think so. I had the surgery on a Monday morning at JCMC, came home Tuesday evening and went back to work in 3 weeks. I could have probably gone back to work in 2 weeks, but enjoyed being home. Have had no problems with the band, no problems with vomiting and have been able to eat all foods. I do have to eat slow, or it feels like it is stuck in my chest, but goes away soon. You do learn to eat slowly and chew, chew, chew. My weight loss has been slow, but I have always heard you keep it off better when you lose slowly. Good luck.