? about Gtubes

[Guest guest]

Hi,

This post is to anyone who is familiar with Gtubes. I was wondering a

few basic questions about the surgery and afterwards. When visiting with the

specialists I always have so many questions ....then I get home and think of

more. They answered most of the basics but these others came to mind. So

thanks in advance to anyone who is kind enough to respond to my list:

1) How long did it take your child to recuperate from the surgery?

2) Can the child sleep on their tummy while being tube fed at night?

3) How long is it till the child can be in water after the surgery? Can

they get

wet (baths, swimming pools, etc.) with the long (temporary) tube

wrapped up or do they have to wait for their button?

4) Did the site bother the child? Did they pull or scratch at the site?

When does this improve it happens at all?

Any other information or suggestions you can share about the Gtube would be

greatly appreciated. As you so well know ... this is a big deal to us right

now, and we are scared, very !!

Thanks,

, Steve and (Age 2- RSS, 15 1/2 lbs, 29 1/2 inches)

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/9/00 9:37:25 AM Eastern Standard Time, Lequiz@...

writes:

, Steve & - here are my answers......(my Jes has had her g-tube

since november...)

<< 1) How long did it take your child to recuperate from the surgery? Only

a few days. She would get around the house by rolling, but after the surgery

she didn't roll until about the 2nd day after we came home.

2) Can the child sleep on their tummy while being tube fed at night? Jes

doesn't sleep on her tummy at all, but I don't see a reason why she wouldn't

be able too, other than the tube may kink and you'll be woken up by a beep

and " flow control " error message (at least on my pump -Kangaroo)

3) How long is it till the child can be in water after the surgery?

Can

they get wet (baths, swimming pools, etc.) with the long (temporary) tube

wrapped up or do they have to wait for their button? They told me she

can take a bath right away - just not to soak the site - she's only 2 and

very immobile - so we weren't concerned with swimming - not much help on this

one, sorry.

4) Did the site bother the child? Did they pull or scratch at the

site?

When does this improve it happens at all? It really depends on the child,

Jes has never pulled at it. She really seems to know it's connected and she

can't do anything about it. Also I have heard of other kids sites getting

infected or leaking. This also hasn't happened to Jes so I can't say much

more else about it. The only problem we have with it is that, as I said, she

rolls to get around (she can't crawl or walk yet). She is also on continuous

feeds so she's almost always hooked up to it and it tends to get tangled

around her. - Hope this helps...

, Mom to ,

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