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Hi a little on what’s happened to me. 16 months ago I had to have gastric sleeve as my hiatus hernia and other issues had strangled my stomach. I had the hiatus hernia repaired at the same time. 4 weeks later I had to go in for a stretch as I couldn’t stomach soft foods. 3 months later I was still on purée and soft soft foods. We did more testing and surgery again to fix the hiatus. Things didn’t progress past the purée. I was sent to our state capital to see the head surgeon. After running more tests they found more issues. My stomach had moved above my heart. Causing most of my eating issues. I had surgery #4, 8 weeks ago. After a 3 Hr operation they repaired the hiatus, fixed my Nissan fundoplication and had to staple more stomach away as I had a pouch. I was on liquid for 3 weeks, purée for 3 weeks. But a day after starting soft foods I am back to liquids/purée as everytime I ate it felt like an air bubble was blocked and I was vomiting. now everytime I drink/eat/swallow saliva I get a sharp stabbing pain. The surgeon has said I may have to have bypass. how has everyone coped with GB and any tips for me please?

I’ve been fortunate in that my family has been quietly supportive. No one really says anything & in some cases will offer alternatives. Whenever others are hosting, I don’t make a fuss about what I can or can’t eat just make the best choices I can from the options. I’ve become adept of putting a little taste of a variety of food on my plate & saying thank you but I’m fine or this is plenty for now, maybe later. I happily sit there with my half empty plate while others’ are overflowing. I do allow myself a little more flexibility at Christmas: it is only one day a year. What’s funny is that I make most of the Christmas desserts yet I very rarely eat sweets any more. This is really the only day I do & choose a little bite or two of the things I enjoy most. So many equate socialising with eating & drinking but really socialising is about being with people you love (or tolerate in regards to certain family members 😉). Instead of eating, talk with those you’re with.

You talk about what you're eating when snacking but what are you usually eating? I mean - besides these foods. You also don't mention if you're losing weight or not.

Personally I would NOT cancel surgery unless I had a 6 month supply already on hand and even then I would still go through with WLS because I strongly believe it is currently still superior to the GLP-1 meds for a few reasons (nothing to do with efficacy) Please try to be patient and let the surgery schedule work itself out, one way or another. And please note that Wegovy has and will continue to experienced supply interruption issues: https://www.novonordisk-us.com/supply-update.html

I've personally been on both Saxenda and Wegovy. With Saxenda, I lost 20 pounds and my blood sugar and cholesterol improved, but high blood pressure was unchanged. I stopped because the insurance price went from $50 a month to over $200, and my weight loss plateaued so $2400 a year to keep off 20 lbs seemed a bit steep. As soon as I stopped, the weight came back, the A1Cs went up, and the cholesterol went higher than before I started. With Wegovy, I was only ever able to get the first two months of doses before shortages made it impossible. After that, I switched insurance and lost coverage of Wegovy completely, meaning over $1k per month out of pocket if I wanted to continue. I wasn't on it long enough to see how my labs would have been. From everything I've seen, surgery is the only durable option. In my case, the copay is less than a single month of Wegovy, with the possibility of it lasting a lifetime, and the ability to add the GLP-1 drugs down the road if needed. Only you can decide what is right for you, but I think for most people who are at the point of qualifying for surgery, the drugs alone will not be enough, and if you lose access to them, you will most likely go back to square one with weight. Or in my case, square one plus 10 pounds.

I wouldn’t give up yet. You can always delay your surgery until you’re certain about your decision. Have a look at some of Dr Matthew Weiner’s you tube videos & his podcasts (available via his pound of cure website). He’s has a few about using glp-1 meds or only going down the surgery path or taking the meds in tandem with surgery. At the least it may help you with some questions to ask your team & surgeon about your way forward. The surgery requires life long changes & as does the medication. The surgery is expensive unless you’re covered by insurance. The medication is also expensive & you’ll be paying it for the rest of your life (after your insurance period ends if you’re eligible). Both have some side effects you may or may not experience or have to manage (but most things do).

Wegovy can help, but a lot of people, like celebs are using it for 10-20 lbs. I had lot more than that to lose, so I dumped ozempix and got surgery. Big change, but happy with it. As far as your program, you could cancel and look for more support if you don't trust this Dr and his office. But there are good programs out there. Good luck! Sent from my SM-G981U1 using Tapatalk

I like Syntrax Nectar powders. You can get samples of the different flavors, I find them less sweet than the ready-to-drink ones and no sugar alcohols to anger my healing tummy. BariatricPal also sells protein shots that are 3 ounces, fruit flavors, and pack a nice protein punch. They are sweet but go down easy when I need something quick.

I haven't really tried too many brands. I really like the Protein2O - Tropical Coconut, Mixed Berry, Wild Cherry, Mango Peach. Nice and cold and they taste just like a refreshing juice with 15gs of protein. I tried Recovery Water and could not take the after taste or the weird mouth feel it left me. Almost cotton mouth like. Those had 20g protein, but were undrinkable for me.

My sleeve was on Nov17, anybody on the same date? How ate doing? I think I’m a slow one, my weight lost is very slow and my appetite is still the same 🥲🥲