<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>AllansGirl</b></i>
I don't want to sound like I am trying to talk you out of it--I'm not, because I know that g-tubes have been lifesavers for many on here. But I'll agree with fr3ak and suggest exhausting every other possible option first, and be careful if you get one.
My fiance resisted a g-tube for as long as he could, but when he was turned down for a lung transplant, low weight was listed among the reasons he was turned down. He was 20 years old, 5'1" and 86 lbs. So, he finally relented and got a g-tube.
His PFTs were in the 20s and he had cepacia, so those factors almost certainly played a role in his extremely poor outcome. He also was not put on IV antibiotics beforehand, and was only on oral antibiotics, which had long lost any real effectiveness for him. I found a book on CF care later on that stated that CFers should be put on IV antibiotics at least 48 hours before the surgery.
After the surgery, he was in a tremendous amount of pain, and couldn't really cough. After about two days of not being able to cough stuff up very well, it turned into the severe lung infection that took his life.
If it worked for you before, it may well work for you again. As you can see, most of the people here (or their children) who have gotten a g-tube have had good results with it. But, there are risks involved which were downplayed to us, so please research it as well as you can to protect yourself if you opt for the g-tube.</end quote></div>
If you have low pft's I would most certainly agree with this post. This was a problem for me too and I became really sick after the gtube. It was painful (I think more so for me than most) I had to take narcotics which further supressed the cough. I certainly think if you PFT's are in the 30's or below adding a week or two of IV abx should be mandatory. I don't know how much of my sickness was related to the surgery, I think I actually caught a virus about a week or 10 days after the surgery. Fortunatley for me I was just coming off IV's when the surgery was done. I just wish they could have extended them another week.
That said, I still think the gtube has been great. I wouldn't be able to be listed for transplant if it weren't for the gtube.
I don't want to sound like I am trying to talk you out of it--I'm not, because I know that g-tubes have been lifesavers for many on here. But I'll agree with fr3ak and suggest exhausting every other possible option first, and be careful if you get one.
My fiance resisted a g-tube for as long as he could, but when he was turned down for a lung transplant, low weight was listed among the reasons he was turned down. He was 20 years old, 5'1" and 86 lbs. So, he finally relented and got a g-tube.
His PFTs were in the 20s and he had cepacia, so those factors almost certainly played a role in his extremely poor outcome. He also was not put on IV antibiotics beforehand, and was only on oral antibiotics, which had long lost any real effectiveness for him. I found a book on CF care later on that stated that CFers should be put on IV antibiotics at least 48 hours before the surgery.
After the surgery, he was in a tremendous amount of pain, and couldn't really cough. After about two days of not being able to cough stuff up very well, it turned into the severe lung infection that took his life.
If it worked for you before, it may well work for you again. As you can see, most of the people here (or their children) who have gotten a g-tube have had good results with it. But, there are risks involved which were downplayed to us, so please research it as well as you can to protect yourself if you opt for the g-tube.</end quote></div>
If you have low pft's I would most certainly agree with this post. This was a problem for me too and I became really sick after the gtube. It was painful (I think more so for me than most) I had to take narcotics which further supressed the cough. I certainly think if you PFT's are in the 30's or below adding a week or two of IV abx should be mandatory. I don't know how much of my sickness was related to the surgery, I think I actually caught a virus about a week or 10 days after the surgery. Fortunatley for me I was just coming off IV's when the surgery was done. I just wish they could have extended them another week.
That said, I still think the gtube has been great. I wouldn't be able to be listed for transplant if it weren't for the gtube.