Jack Teeter's Blog, page 3

Happy Button Day!

Okay, mark it down…

Today’s the day: 01/10/2013

Happy Button Day!

No more feeding tube tail to tuck up under my shirt.

Here’s how it works!

Have a great PEG day!

The Oley Foundation!

I gotta tell you about The OLEY foundation!

Here’s the link:  http://www.oley.org/

And their mission: ‘Enriches the lives of those requiring home IV & tube feeding through education, outreach, & networking.’

‘MY HPN’, is an educational tool to help Home Enteral Nutrition consumers (HEN) patients improve their health and quality of life. The ‘Take Charge’ module is a marvelous video! 

There are tabs for ‘Travel Tips’, ‘HPN Research’, ‘Equipment-Supplies’ and many more.

I’ll give you an example of one thing I learned in perusing their materials: See, at the hospital, the nurses always mixed all my morning meds and force-pumped them down. Well at home (all this time) I’ve been trying to do the same thing. The meds make almost a paste — a big sticky mess to cope with. Oley’s solution (duh!):  process the meds one at a time. Since I only take one or two meds the rest of the day, I know that’s not messy! I can’t wait to start using this idea tomorrow morning. So simple… but as patients we tend to do things like the nurses showed us. Live and learn!

The OLEY foundation!  http://www.oley.org/

You gotta go see this site!

Have a great PEG day!

Acceptance

This is not the way would have chosen to live the remainder of my life — tied to a tube in my gut.
I wouldn’t choose to get up every morning at 6:15; I’m retired, I like to stay up late and sleep in — but in order to meet a 5-times-a-day feeding schedule I have to get up early.

I wouldn’t choose to weigh 182 pounds and have my cheek bones protrude; I have pictures of when I was a big guy, strong, and maybe even handsome — but the science of the nutrition that I consume indicates this is my ideal weight and body composition.

I wouldn’t choose to go for a walk while great-smelling meal is being prepared; I used to hang around the kitchen talking with my wife as she prepared our meals, taking in the wonderful smells and even being treated to an occasional taste — but now those smells bring too much longing and even the smallest taste is taboo, it’s better that I just let my wife do her kitchen work by herself.

Many years ago I had cancer and I would often hear the doctors talk about something called the ’5-year survival rate’. Back then, surviving for 5 years seemed like an impossible dream. Yet I’ve survived for more than 3 times that long.

And if I use this tube in my gut correctly, I may survive a little while longer. A little more following old schools mates or former students on Facebook, a little more encouraging the hopes and dreams of my adult grandchildren, a little more watching my sons and their wives make successes of their lives. Yes, and even a little more time with the woman who snuggles up next to me every night.
You know what? I’ll take a little more! And I’ll try my best not to consider Living on a PEG as what I have to settle for or just the way things worked out — as best I can, day-to-day, I’m going to strive to accept my PEG as life-saving gift from modern science.
Have a great PEG day!

Slower feeding – good or bad?

Okay, so I got a new PEG tube installed — wore out the closing end on the first one. So let’s examine the difference between the new and the old.

First, this is a syringe:

The end of the syringe fits into the PEG tube for feeding.

Now, this is the old PEG tube I used to have.

As you can see, it’s all one piece. The bad is that when the little cover for the opening where the syringe fits — when that wears out — you have to replace the whole PEG tube. The good is that the diameter of the opening where the syringe fits — is the same diameter as the end of the syringe.

Now, this is my new PEG tube.

Look at the purple opening where the syringe fits. See how it has a yellow end that inserts into the tube? The good is that when the little cover for the opening where the syringe fits — when that wears out — you do not have to replace the whole PEG tube: you just pull out the old purple fitting and put in a new one. The bad is that the yellow end — just simple physics — has a smaller opening than the diameter of the syringe (it has to fit INTO the tube).

Well, of course the opening at the purple end has a cap that is the same diameter as the end of the syringe, so there’s no problem with inserting the syringe. Everything works the same…

EXCEPT. See, the smaller yellow fitting means the Jevity 1.5 food has to fit through an opening whose diameter is approximately half the diameter of the end of the syringe. So, it takes twice as long to do the feeding  –  remember we don’t push the Jevity 1.5 through the syringe, we take the plunger out and hold the syringe up, pouring in the Jevity 1.5 and let gravity determine the rate of the flow — thus, smaller opening = slower feeding.

OKAY, all that said… I actually LIKE my new PEG tube BETTER. It’s better because slow flow seems to keep me from feeling bloated after feeding. It takes more time — about 45 minutes (compared to used-to-be 20 minutes) — but I experience much less discomfort after feeding.

IT’S ALL GOOD!

Have a great PEG day!