Re: G tube info please!

[Guest guest]

A g-tube is known also as a gastrostomy tube/button. It is a small

hole/opening that is made in the baby/child's stomach and is used

for feeding those who don't eat enough and/or fail to gain weight.

It is also used for those who have nighttime hypoglycemia and cannot

go all night without eating.

When the surgery is first done, there is a tube that hangs out of

the site. A plastic disc is stitched onto the child's skin to hold

it in place. This is kept there until the site heals, a few weeks.

Then the tube is pulled and a " button " is put in. That is just a

small appliance that looks like a button on top of the skin. Most

are held in place by a balloon that is inside the stomach and filled

with water. It's easy to replace at a moment's notice.

Some children, like my son, have had to go further and have a j-

tube, also. That is just an extension of the g-tube/button and it

bypasses the stomach and goes into the jejeunum (not sure of the

spelling here). My son, for example, gets stomach viruses often and

takes so long to be able to eat again that we use the j-tube or else

he would be in the hospital for weeks.

I hope this helps explain it for you!

Jodi Z.

[Guest guest]

Hi . It's another Jodi, here. ) It sounds like you have

received two good responses so far, but I just wanted to share our

experience with you. I think every g tube placement is a little

different. First of all, my son has always had some sort of feeding

tube since birth. We tried feeding him by mouth while he was in the

hospital, but he just wasn't successful at it. We tried nursing and

bottle feeding, but he had many choking and gagging episodes, and he

also had blue spells several times. So, they determined that it was

unsafe to feed him by mouth, especially once we got to take him

home.

Anyway, he started out with a ng tube, which is a tube that goes from

the childs nose down to the stomach. Of course, this is very

uncomfortable, and once they get old enough, tend to pull them out.

Once we realized that 's feeding issues where going to be long

term we went ahead with a g tube surgery. ( just had the g tube

placed, he didn't have the Nissen fundoplication that Pat was

referring to. We didn't know about 's reflux at the time, and

we definitely didn't know he had RSS back then either.) When he came

out of surgery, he had a regular g tube. A regular g tube is fine,

but all the convience is in the Mic-key button or AMT. With these

types of g tubes, or even j tubes, you have an extension that comes

with them, and when the child is not feeding through the tube, you

can unhook the extension and all that is left is a little button in

their stomach. No tubes have to hang from it when you are not using

it.

The reason why a lot of the RSS kids need them is because they have a

lot of trouble gaining weight. Some kids just can't eat enough to

gain weight. They require a lot more calories than a " regular "

child, for lack of a better phrase. For example, needs twice

as many calories, just to gain minimal weightin a weeks time, or even

two weeks time. And, a lot of the kids have delayed stomach

emptying. Which means, their stomaches do not empty at a normal

rate, therefore, they are full longer, and just don't have any

appetite whatsoever. Others have such severe reflux that it

literally " hurts " them to eat. And then there are some RSS kids that

have ALL of these issues, which makes eating very unpleasant to them.

Well, I hope I haven't totally confused you. I just wanted to share

our experience, as everyone has a different one. Hopefully you have

a little better understanding of the g tube now. ) email me and I

can share some pictures of and his g tube with you if you

would like to see one close up. He's a great model.....LOL!

rollison@ core.com, no space after the @ sign.

Take care,

Jodi R.

> Hi everyone. Just wanted to see if I could get some info. I see a

> lot of posts about children with G tubes and I just wanted to know

> what exactly they are and why they are needed by a lot of RSS

kids.

> Thanks! I've got a lot to learn.

>

>

> mom of Autumn 8 mos poss RSS 12lbs 3oz