G-Tube round 2

Well it's only taken me about 5 months to get this post up, but better late than never right? As you know, this year we made the decision to get a feeding tube put in, in hopes that I would gain weight. I had one placed back in April but had some complications with it and had to have it taken out the beginning of June. So that one only lasted about 8 weeks, but I did gain 8 lbs during that time. (to read that complete story go to my g-tubes pain post in July) After all of that mess, I wasn't in a huge hurry to get the tube back, but knew that I needed to because I had lost a couple pounds and was struggling with eating again.

So July 29th I went in for g-tube round #2. This peg-tube was SOOOO much better than the first one. The GI Dr. drugged me up enough so I didn't wake up during the procedure, which was a HUGE blessing! (I am tough and can handle procedures, but having a tube placed down your throat into your stomach with you awake is NOT a pleasant experience and one that I never want to experience again). Since I was completely out this time, the Dr. was able to find a better place to place the tube and he also made the tube a little shorter. I actually think that a new "spot" for the tube and it being shortened helped my healing time a TON!!! Yes, it was still painful to recover from, but I actually discovered that you don't have to be in pain the whole time you have a tube in your stomach. Round 1, I hurt the entire time when ever I coughed, round 2, I was able to not really notice the pain while coughing about 3-4 weeks after the placement of the tube. Because of the nightmare of round 1 when we switched from the peg-tube to the button (and the ultimate removal of the tube altogether), I decided that I was going to wait at least 10 weeks before converting the peg-tube to a button. I also talked to my CF GI doctor about what G-tube button brand(s) would work best for me and ordered that button before I set up to have the switch made.

16 weeks after getting my 2nd tube placed I was finally able to have the long tube replaced for a brand new button!!! The best part: It looks beautiful and works 100 times better than the first button that I had!!!! It's so nice to have something small and not feel like I have an "extra arm or leg" growing out of my stomach. Now on to pictures....warning, I did take them all myself and they might gross you out a little, but I find the pictures fascinating and I wanted documentation of everything that I have been through to gain weight and be healthier.

This is what my 2nd peg-tube looked like. This picture was taken on November 16th, the last day that I used this tube.

Here is the amazing new button that I have now. It's called an AMT Mini balloon button. The balloon part is inside my stomach and the flat part sits outside my stomach. The side opening on the top is where you put the fluid through for the balloon inside after you place it into the stoma (or hole in my stomach) The purpose of the balloon is to help hold the tube in place and also acts as a seal from the inside of my stomach, although with all of my coughing that I do, I still have some leakage through my site but it's noting compared to what it was when I first got the long tube placed.

Here is my new belly piercing!

Doesn't it look so nice and small!!!

You can also see my battle wounds from the first round.

This should give you an idea about how small my button is.

This is what it looks like when I'm hooked up to it. The best part about this is that it has a lock feature with it. I place the end in and have to turn it 3/4 turn for it to be used. Why is that a good thing? Because when I cough or move around at night the tube connection is not going to pop out of place and leak all over me. They don't make all g-tube buttons this way, but I'm SOOO glad mine has it!

Here is the formula that we are feeding me at night. It's pretty close to the same stuff that we started using but at a fraction of the cost! (Jevity costs $30 for a case of 24 cans, Peptamen costs around $240 for a case of 24 cans....when you do at least 2 or more cans a night and insurance pays $0.00, it gets pretty spendy....)

I asked my personal chef if I could take of picture of him making my nightly meal and this is what I got....good thing I love him! :o)

Adding the second can to the bag....man he sure works hard "cooking for me!"

Priming the tubing. Being the engineer that he is, he discovered that it's faster to prime the tubing by using gravity than by using the pump to do it.

While this isn't totally related....I felt like tube girl when I went on IVs recently. This is me hooked up to my O2, IV meds & feeding tube. Can you tell what each tube is for? It's a good thing my husband still loves me with all of my tubes that I need to keep me healthy!