Re: Hospitalization-G-tube tips

[Guest guest]

G-tube tips My son is 2 1/2 and has had his tube for 1 1/2 years.

1. Give them lots of tylenol and advil every 4 hours (switching

between the 2 drugs) for about 2 weeks. Helps with pain. Just put

it in the tube.

2. The site where the tube goes in will hurt and besides pain meds,

there isn't much you can do. Keep him off his tummy if possible. If

he is a tummy sleeper, you may have to stay in his room to prevent

him from rolling over.

3. Be sure to get a clamp on the " training tube " . They didn't give

us one and we had to fold it over so that when we opened the tube up,

fluid didn't come out.

4. Buy extra bed sheets because it will leak, especially until you

get used to all the stuff.

5. Prepare to bathe him in the middle of the night if it does leak.

Stomach acid can irritate skin so you want to be sure to get it off.

6. Use medical tape to secure the feeding bag and the " training

tube " or extension set. We used a piece of tape about 4 inches long

and wrapped it up around like a candy cane.

7. Use the same tape to secure the tube down his leg of his pajama

pants. We use one piece up near his waist, one around his knee and

one near his ankle.

8. When you are securing it, be sure to give enough slack so that it

doesn't pull on his stomach but not too much.

9. Kinks will happen and the securing it to his leg will help prevent

it but you can't prevent it 100%.

10. Use hydrogen peroxide with a q-tip and the apply zinc oxide to

the tube site a few times a day in the first few weeks.

11. Tape the " training tube " to his shirt or pin it to his shirt

when you aren't using it.

12. When you get the training tube removed, be sure to ask for the

longest extension sets you can get (we use the 24 inch ones) for

night feedings.

13. Creon is a pain to get into the tube. We use Viokase with much

success. If you use a capsule kind of medicine, you have to unattach

the feeding bag and training tube in order to give the capsule

medication. If you use Viokase (powder), you can give the medicine

through the smaller opening.

14. We suggest the Kangaroo Pet travel pump over all the others. It

is quieter and is easy to travel with.

I am sure you have other questions, so email me if you have them.

jeninca1010@...