G-tube irritation prevention ?

July 23, 2004

Darla,

Lucas is J-tube fed but also has a Mic-Key button in his stomach. Two stomas and two tubes. We are currently venting his G-tube the majority of times. My mother made wraps for Lucas which he wears on a regular basis. They are rectangular pieces made out of swimsuit material and she adds plush back elastic on the top and bottom and velcro sewn on to secure them. We have had either the velcro running vertically or horizontally. At night to prevent pulling on the J-tube we pin his extension of his feeding bag to the bottom of his pajama bottoms. It is important that that piece be that of the tube feeding bag since that will then be the first area pulled and thus prevent strain on the stoma itself. We are currently using the Embrace pump by Ross and the tube feeding bags actually have a little loop that you can put the safety pin through. Otherwise by taking a piece of tape and foding the ends on each side then attaching the tube you would be able to put the pin through and accomplish the same thing. Hope that makes sense. I will try to see if I can send a picture of Lucas wearing the wrap so you can see what has worked for us. HTH, Loriann

July 23, 2004

Zipporrah has been started on 24 hour feedins a couple days ago

and we are seeing major red irritation around the G-tube site because

of the constant rubbing from the button and attachment piece. We use

gauze and try to keep the attachment piece taped to her diaper and

that is helping some but wondered what other people use to keep the

tugging of the tube from happening. We have also used the flexi-

track but due to tape irritaion, this hasn't been a good solution.

Is there a way to make " something " to hold the tube in a place that

the tugging will pull somewhere other than her button? Any ideas

appreciated!

It hasn't been fun having a 9 month old attached at all times,

chasing after her as she has begun to crawl and get around now. Her

muscle weaknes is very obvious in her legs and thigh/hips now that

she's getting around, but she is still so determined and strong

enough to make it work.

Darla: mommy to Asenath, Zipporrah, Luke, and the other 6 kiddos

July 24, 2004

The only time that we see Gracies button get irritated, is when it is getting too small. Her GI noticed the last one was too small, and said this is why she had granulation tissue. I know you have more experience with these than me, but maybe just a longer button will work.

I have to admit, I don't envy you on the crawling thing. It must be hard keeping up with her, and making sure she does not hurt herself. I did see, once, a ball that will hold the pump. It is designed for little kids, and it rolls along with the child. It really looked pretty cool. I cannot remember the name but I will look again online and foward you the site if I find it. You may wish for something like this as she gets faster.

Best wishes

,Mommy to (9), (7), Bre-Anne (6), Grace (2) and our newest arrival is due Sept. 20thFor the latest baby info, and to see our family check out:www.BabyCountDown.com?baby=4007

July 24, 2004

Darla,

Is the tube flexible? I've noticed that Asher gets really red, bleeding around his site when I use the thickish, non-flexible tube that has a straight attachment to the mic-key button. The one with the right angle attachment that's flexible seems to avoid all the irritation.

Anne R

July 24, 2004

Darla, sorry I searched everywhere I could for that ball. I just was unable to find it. I did think of a few other possible ideas. When Grace her first g tube (not the button) it really bothered her when it moved. We used to wrap her whole abdomen in gauze, or an ace bandage, with the tube coming through a slit. I know this would be hot in the summer, but it did keep it still. Also we used very snug fitting onesies, with the tube coming out of the leg part. I hope the irritation goes away for her. Poor little baby.

,Mommy to (9), (7), Bre-Anne (6), Grace (2) and our newest arrival is due Sept. 20thFor the latest baby info, and to see our family check out:www.BabyCountDown.com?baby=4007

July 24, 2004

Darla,

I am sure that everyone has their own tricks but this is what we did. We

switched buttons to an AMT Mini button because it offered less irritation than a

Mickey. We also went to a pharmacy that sells medical supplies. I purchased

a box of tubular dressing. It cost about $20 for the box and it lasted about 2

years. Cut a length of the dressing (get the size that fits an adult thigh or

shoulder because it fits around a young child well) and wear it around the

middle. We always put a PJ shirt on then put the tubular dressing over it

(that way the button would not poke through the dressing). This eliminates a

lot of the movement that you get when you wear a tube for a long time. If you

are tubing for 24 hours then you could cut a piece of material and place it over

the button and then place the tubular dressing over that. You can wash and

dry the dressing so it can be reused basically until you lose it in the wash.

This is also fairly cool because the dressing has holes in it--helps lessen the

chance of overheating.

July 24, 2004

You can take one of your old socks and cut toes off then pull it up her leg

and hold down the tube that way. There is a great website for g-tube ideas