G-tubes

shortcody23 · Jan 25, 2010

I am 15 I have been on TPN for 4 months now and my liver can't take much more of TPN. I am still not getting better. My doctors said I will need to come back next month for an evaluation before they put it in. I have had to discuss it with my parents and social worker. I would just like to get some opinions of people that have or have had experience with them.

shortcody23 · Jan 25, 2010

I am 15 I have been on TPN for 4 months now and my liver can't take much more of TPN. I am still not getting better. My doctors said I will need to come back next month for an evaluation before they put it in. I have had to discuss it with my parents and social worker. I would just like to get some opinions of people that have or have had experience with them.

shortcody23 · Jan 25, 2010

I am 15 I have been on TPN for 4 months now and my liver can't take much more of TPN. I am still not getting better. My doctors said I will need to come back next month for an evaluation before they put it in. I have had to discuss it with my parents and social worker. I would just like to get some opinions of people that have or have had experience with them.

shortcody23 · Jan 25, 2010

I am 15 I have been on TPN for 4 months now and my liver can't take much more of TPN. I am still not getting better. My doctors said I will need to come back next month for an evaluation before they put it in. I have had to discuss it with my parents and social worker. I would just like to get some opinions of people that have or have had experience with them.

shortcody23 · Jan 25, 2010

I am 15 I have been on TPN for 4 months now and my liver can't take much more of TPN. I am still not getting better. My doctors said I will need to come back next month for an evaluation before they put it in. I have had to discuss it with my parents and social worker. I would just like to get some opinions of people that have or have had experience with them.

Malachy10000000 · Jan 27, 2010

Hi I'm malachy and I had a g-tube for the first eleven years of my life so im very experienced with it. I would say that after it is first placed you will have irritaion around the site and if your stomach is active then stomach acid will burn the area around your g-tube too. The way that my site was cleaned was by getting a q-tip and wiping the cruty dried up acid or other particles with hydrogen peroxide. A g-tube is more beneficial than an annoyance if it were not for it I would be dead, so here are the pros and cons:
PROS: You get to eat while you sleep!, you should be able to keep an apporpriate weight so that your not too skinny or sick, even when you feel sick or dont have an appetite you can still be fed through the g-tube, nasty liquid medications that you take through the mouth can be pushed through the g-tube, and there are now portable units that you can stick in a backpack and no one will know-so you can eat unknowingly during the day! oh and if you ever gain too much weigth the doctors can adjust the dose

CONS: The site can feel iritated, while doing the VEST the g-tube can be moved around (to avoid this the VEST company has a new foam that will prevent this irritaion), you have to change the tube every month or three (i cant remember how many months), if you're sleeping and the g-tube pops your bed will get soaked with nutrients or the pediasure or peptamin or etc., if the g-tube pops you better get another one because that hole can close up fast! (like half an hour for my friend who had to get their's redone, always keep a supply of g-tubes!), going down a water slide might not be as fun either... the stomach acids can burn a lot but I also have very active stomach acids so you probably dont need to worry about that.

Well that is all I can think of and I'm 14 now and I have the normal not average weight that im supposed to. I would not be too worried just be prepared; the g-tube can get annoying but its definatelly worth it!
P.S. the way I got rid of my g-tube was by taking an appetite stimulate called MEGACESTROL and it literally saved my life maybe you should talk to your doctors about it?

Malachy10000000 · Jan 27, 2010

Hi I'm malachy and I had a g-tube for the first eleven years of my life so im very experienced with it. I would say that after it is first placed you will have irritaion around the site and if your stomach is active then stomach acid will burn the area around your g-tube too. The way that my site was cleaned was by getting a q-tip and wiping the cruty dried up acid or other particles with hydrogen peroxide. A g-tube is more beneficial than an annoyance if it were not for it I would be dead, so here are the pros and cons:
PROS: You get to eat while you sleep!, you should be able to keep an apporpriate weight so that your not too skinny or sick, even when you feel sick or dont have an appetite you can still be fed through the g-tube, nasty liquid medications that you take through the mouth can be pushed through the g-tube, and there are now portable units that you can stick in a backpack and no one will know-so you can eat unknowingly during the day! oh and if you ever gain too much weigth the doctors can adjust the dose

CONS: The site can feel iritated, while doing the VEST the g-tube can be moved around (to avoid this the VEST company has a new foam that will prevent this irritaion), you have to change the tube every month or three (i cant remember how many months), if you're sleeping and the g-tube pops your bed will get soaked with nutrients or the pediasure or peptamin or etc., if the g-tube pops you better get another one because that hole can close up fast! (like half an hour for my friend who had to get their's redone, always keep a supply of g-tubes!), going down a water slide might not be as fun either... the stomach acids can burn a lot but I also have very active stomach acids so you probably dont need to worry about that.

Well that is all I can think of and I'm 14 now and I have the normal not average weight that im supposed to. I would not be too worried just be prepared; the g-tube can get annoying but its definatelly worth it!
P.S. the way I got rid of my g-tube was by taking an appetite stimulate called MEGACESTROL and it literally saved my life maybe you should talk to your doctors about it?

Malachy10000000 · Jan 27, 2010

Hi I'm malachy and I had a g-tube for the first eleven years of my life so im very experienced with it. I would say that after it is first placed you will have irritaion around the site and if your stomach is active then stomach acid will burn the area around your g-tube too. The way that my site was cleaned was by getting a q-tip and wiping the cruty dried up acid or other particles with hydrogen peroxide. A g-tube is more beneficial than an annoyance if it were not for it I would be dead, so here are the pros and cons:
PROS: You get to eat while you sleep!, you should be able to keep an apporpriate weight so that your not too skinny or sick, even when you feel sick or dont have an appetite you can still be fed through the g-tube, nasty liquid medications that you take through the mouth can be pushed through the g-tube, and there are now portable units that you can stick in a backpack and no one will know-so you can eat unknowingly during the day! oh and if you ever gain too much weigth the doctors can adjust the dose

CONS: The site can feel iritated, while doing the VEST the g-tube can be moved around (to avoid this the VEST company has a new foam that will prevent this irritaion), you have to change the tube every month or three (i cant remember how many months), if you're sleeping and the g-tube pops your bed will get soaked with nutrients or the pediasure or peptamin or etc., if the g-tube pops you better get another one because that hole can close up fast! (like half an hour for my friend who had to get their's redone, always keep a supply of g-tubes!), going down a water slide might not be as fun either... the stomach acids can burn a lot but I also have very active stomach acids so you probably dont need to worry about that.

Well that is all I can think of and I'm 14 now and I have the normal not average weight that im supposed to. I would not be too worried just be prepared; the g-tube can get annoying but its definatelly worth it!
P.S. the way I got rid of my g-tube was by taking an appetite stimulate called MEGACESTROL and it literally saved my life maybe you should talk to your doctors about it?

Malachy10000000 · Jan 27, 2010

Hi I'm malachy and I had a g-tube for the first eleven years of my life so im very experienced with it. I would say that after it is first placed you will have irritaion around the site and if your stomach is active then stomach acid will burn the area around your g-tube too. The way that my site was cleaned was by getting a q-tip and wiping the cruty dried up acid or other particles with hydrogen peroxide. A g-tube is more beneficial than an annoyance if it were not for it I would be dead, so here are the pros and cons:
PROS: You get to eat while you sleep!, you should be able to keep an apporpriate weight so that your not too skinny or sick, even when you feel sick or dont have an appetite you can still be fed through the g-tube, nasty liquid medications that you take through the mouth can be pushed through the g-tube, and there are now portable units that you can stick in a backpack and no one will know-so you can eat unknowingly during the day! oh and if you ever gain too much weigth the doctors can adjust the dose

CONS: The site can feel iritated, while doing the VEST the g-tube can be moved around (to avoid this the VEST company has a new foam that will prevent this irritaion), you have to change the tube every month or three (i cant remember how many months), if you're sleeping and the g-tube pops your bed will get soaked with nutrients or the pediasure or peptamin or etc., if the g-tube pops you better get another one because that hole can close up fast! (like half an hour for my friend who had to get their's redone, always keep a supply of g-tubes!), going down a water slide might not be as fun either... the stomach acids can burn a lot but I also have very active stomach acids so you probably dont need to worry about that.

Well that is all I can think of and I'm 14 now and I have the normal not average weight that im supposed to. I would not be too worried just be prepared; the g-tube can get annoying but its definatelly worth it!
P.S. the way I got rid of my g-tube was by taking an appetite stimulate called MEGACESTROL and it literally saved my life maybe you should talk to your doctors about it?

Malachy10000000 · Jan 27, 2010

Hi I'm malachy and I had a g-tube for the first eleven years of my life so im very experienced with it. I would say that after it is first placed you will have irritaion around the site and if your stomach is active then stomach acid will burn the area around your g-tube too. The way that my site was cleaned was by getting a q-tip and wiping the cruty dried up acid or other particles with hydrogen peroxide. A g-tube is more beneficial than an annoyance if it were not for it I would be dead, so here are the pros and cons:
 PROS: You get to eat while you sleep!, you should be able to keep an apporpriate weight so that your not too skinny or sick, even when you feel sick or dont have an appetite you can still be fed through the g-tube, nasty liquid medications that you take through the mouth can be pushed through the g-tube, and there are now portable units that you can stick in a backpack and no one will know-so you can eat unknowingly during the day! oh and if you ever gain too much weigth the doctors can adjust the dose
 
 CONS: The site can feel iritated, while doing the VEST the g-tube can be moved around (to avoid this the VEST company has a new foam that will prevent this irritaion), you have to change the tube every month or three (i cant remember how many months), if you're sleeping and the g-tube pops your bed will get soaked with nutrients or the pediasure or peptamin or etc., if the g-tube pops you better get another one because that hole can close up fast! (like half an hour for my friend who had to get their's redone, always keep a supply of g-tubes!), going down a water slide might not be as fun either... the stomach acids can burn a lot but I also have very active stomach acids so you probably dont need to worry about that.
 
 Well that is all I can think of and I'm 14 now and I have the normal not average weight that im supposed to. I would not be too worried just be prepared; the g-tube can get annoying but its definatelly worth it!
 P.S. the way I got rid of my g-tube was by taking an appetite stimulate called MEGACESTROL and it literally saved my life maybe you should talk to your doctors about it?

bananagirl · Feb 2, 2010

I have had my G-tube for 5 years and am at the point that I need a new one (mine is the kind that you can't just change every few months). For the most part I don't really mind having it I guess. It makes getting a swimsuit very hard because I don't exactly want to show it off to the world. but there are lots of swim shirts you can get and stuff like that which hide it. sometimes it shows through shirts ( i notice this quite often but i think that is because I know it is there) people used to ask me about it some but not so much anymore I just usually laughed it off and said it was my mutant twin or some other weird reason for a small bump on my stomach. When it first goes in be ready for it to HURT. I am the type of person that hates to sit in bed in a hospital gown. Every time I am in the hospital I spend my day in the chairs in the room dressed in normal clothes I am only on the bed for sleeping. After the tube was put in I was in the bed for at least 24 hours I didn't even change from the gown they made me wear to get it put in. The entire day I barely ate anything. I remember eating blue jello but I think that was it. All night the next night I couldn't sleep because I usually sleep on my stomach and it hurt way to much to even move a tiny bit let alone flip over onto it. I don't remember how long it continued to hurt but I know that I was wearing clothes again and out of bed sometime before my two week tune up was over. It did take a while for me to be able to walk with no pain, it is amazing how much we use our stomach muscles. It took a long time to be able to sleep on my stomach and I remember thinking I never would, but eventually I was able too. I also remember thinking how I had wished someone had told me really what to expect with a g-tube because the person I talked to told me it really didn't hurt much at all. some other cons are that occasionally it like sucks in (gets really tight against my skin) it isn't painful bit it is kinda annoying, it also occasionally gets caught on stuff like a table if you try to stand up to close to it. The valve on it gets looser after a while and it leeks some so I usually put a paper towel against it after I use it so that it doesn't get all over my clothes. When this gets so bad that it doesn't stop I put a new valve on. The last thing that bugs me is doing feedings overnight. I didn't like sleeping while hooked up to something. To solve this problem I do my cans by gravity in a syringe (just use a big one and pour formula in to it, let that go in then fill it up somemore) This works good but it sometimes gets annoying to hold the syringe with one arm for a while. I usually do this right before I go to bed. Sorry I lied I have one more con, it fills me up and I don't want to eat as much really food, this is mostly due to the fact that I do two cans before bed and two cans when I get home from school. I do the cans instead of eating cuz with the four cans I get 2,000 cal and with eating I would be lucky to get 500.
Ok now onto the pros
I get a lot of calories that I wouldn't get from just eating alone. They stop bothering me AS MUCH to eat more and eat those gross milkshake things, they do sitll bug me about it though, which the docs claimed would completely stop after I got the g-tube, this is because it seems that the g-tube wasn't that magic solution to my weight problem like they thought and I still seem to have trouble gaining weight despite diligently doing 4 cans everyday. Anyway back to more pros, You don't have to take nasty liquid med once you have it because you can always just pour it into you tube. If you get sick and don't feel like eating you can always just do extra cans and not feel guilty about skipping real food meals. If you are hungry but don't know what to eat you can just do a can and your hunger is gone and you didn't have to "eat" anything. You get to join the club with the rest of us G-tube people and give tell the people without one what it is like (haha ok so maybe this last one isn't a pro). Well that is all I can think of. There is probably more but I can't think of it at the moment. sorry it is so long but I want to make sure I tell you everything I can think of. I would be happy to answer any other questions you have. Feel free to PM me or you can e-mail me at annabananaarb@yahoo.com just put g-tube ? in your subject line

bananagirl · Feb 2, 2010

I have had my G-tube for 5 years and am at the point that I need a new one (mine is the kind that you can't just change every few months). For the most part I don't really mind having it I guess. It makes getting a swimsuit very hard because I don't exactly want to show it off to the world. but there are lots of swim shirts you can get and stuff like that which hide it. sometimes it shows through shirts ( i notice this quite often but i think that is because I know it is there) people used to ask me about it some but not so much anymore I just usually laughed it off and said it was my mutant twin or some other weird reason for a small bump on my stomach. When it first goes in be ready for it to HURT. I am the type of person that hates to sit in bed in a hospital gown. Every time I am in the hospital I spend my day in the chairs in the room dressed in normal clothes I am only on the bed for sleeping. After the tube was put in I was in the bed for at least 24 hours I didn't even change from the gown they made me wear to get it put in. The entire day I barely ate anything. I remember eating blue jello but I think that was it. All night the next night I couldn't sleep because I usually sleep on my stomach and it hurt way to much to even move a tiny bit let alone flip over onto it. I don't remember how long it continued to hurt but I know that I was wearing clothes again and out of bed sometime before my two week tune up was over. It did take a while for me to be able to walk with no pain, it is amazing how much we use our stomach muscles. It took a long time to be able to sleep on my stomach and I remember thinking I never would, but eventually I was able too. I also remember thinking how I had wished someone had told me really what to expect with a g-tube because the person I talked to told me it really didn't hurt much at all. some other cons are that occasionally it like sucks in (gets really tight against my skin) it isn't painful bit it is kinda annoying, it also occasionally gets caught on stuff like a table if you try to stand up to close to it. The valve on it gets looser after a while and it leeks some so I usually put a paper towel against it after I use it so that it doesn't get all over my clothes. When this gets so bad that it doesn't stop I put a new valve on. The last thing that bugs me is doing feedings overnight. I didn't like sleeping while hooked up to something. To solve this problem I do my cans by gravity in a syringe (just use a big one and pour formula in to it, let that go in then fill it up somemore) This works good but it sometimes gets annoying to hold the syringe with one arm for a while. I usually do this right before I go to bed. Sorry I lied I have one more con, it fills me up and I don't want to eat as much really food, this is mostly due to the fact that I do two cans before bed and two cans when I get home from school. I do the cans instead of eating cuz with the four cans I get 2,000 cal and with eating I would be lucky to get 500.
Ok now onto the pros
I get a lot of calories that I wouldn't get from just eating alone. They stop bothering me AS MUCH to eat more and eat those gross milkshake things, they do sitll bug me about it though, which the docs claimed would completely stop after I got the g-tube, this is because it seems that the g-tube wasn't that magic solution to my weight problem like they thought and I still seem to have trouble gaining weight despite diligently doing 4 cans everyday. Anyway back to more pros, You don't have to take nasty liquid med once you have it because you can always just pour it into you tube. If you get sick and don't feel like eating you can always just do extra cans and not feel guilty about skipping real food meals. If you are hungry but don't know what to eat you can just do a can and your hunger is gone and you didn't have to "eat" anything. You get to join the club with the rest of us G-tube people and give tell the people without one what it is like (haha ok so maybe this last one isn't a pro). Well that is all I can think of. There is probably more but I can't think of it at the moment. sorry it is so long but I want to make sure I tell you everything I can think of. I would be happy to answer any other questions you have. Feel free to PM me or you can e-mail me at annabananaarb@yahoo.com just put g-tube ? in your subject line

bananagirl · Feb 2, 2010

I have had my G-tube for 5 years and am at the point that I need a new one (mine is the kind that you can't just change every few months). For the most part I don't really mind having it I guess. It makes getting a swimsuit very hard because I don't exactly want to show it off to the world. but there are lots of swim shirts you can get and stuff like that which hide it. sometimes it shows through shirts ( i notice this quite often but i think that is because I know it is there) people used to ask me about it some but not so much anymore I just usually laughed it off and said it was my mutant twin or some other weird reason for a small bump on my stomach. When it first goes in be ready for it to HURT. I am the type of person that hates to sit in bed in a hospital gown. Every time I am in the hospital I spend my day in the chairs in the room dressed in normal clothes I am only on the bed for sleeping. After the tube was put in I was in the bed for at least 24 hours I didn't even change from the gown they made me wear to get it put in. The entire day I barely ate anything. I remember eating blue jello but I think that was it. All night the next night I couldn't sleep because I usually sleep on my stomach and it hurt way to much to even move a tiny bit let alone flip over onto it. I don't remember how long it continued to hurt but I know that I was wearing clothes again and out of bed sometime before my two week tune up was over. It did take a while for me to be able to walk with no pain, it is amazing how much we use our stomach muscles. It took a long time to be able to sleep on my stomach and I remember thinking I never would, but eventually I was able too. I also remember thinking how I had wished someone had told me really what to expect with a g-tube because the person I talked to told me it really didn't hurt much at all. some other cons are that occasionally it like sucks in (gets really tight against my skin) it isn't painful bit it is kinda annoying, it also occasionally gets caught on stuff like a table if you try to stand up to close to it. The valve on it gets looser after a while and it leeks some so I usually put a paper towel against it after I use it so that it doesn't get all over my clothes. When this gets so bad that it doesn't stop I put a new valve on. The last thing that bugs me is doing feedings overnight. I didn't like sleeping while hooked up to something. To solve this problem I do my cans by gravity in a syringe (just use a big one and pour formula in to it, let that go in then fill it up somemore) This works good but it sometimes gets annoying to hold the syringe with one arm for a while. I usually do this right before I go to bed. Sorry I lied I have one more con, it fills me up and I don't want to eat as much really food, this is mostly due to the fact that I do two cans before bed and two cans when I get home from school. I do the cans instead of eating cuz with the four cans I get 2,000 cal and with eating I would be lucky to get 500.
Ok now onto the pros
I get a lot of calories that I wouldn't get from just eating alone. They stop bothering me AS MUCH to eat more and eat those gross milkshake things, they do sitll bug me about it though, which the docs claimed would completely stop after I got the g-tube, this is because it seems that the g-tube wasn't that magic solution to my weight problem like they thought and I still seem to have trouble gaining weight despite diligently doing 4 cans everyday. Anyway back to more pros, You don't have to take nasty liquid med once you have it because you can always just pour it into you tube. If you get sick and don't feel like eating you can always just do extra cans and not feel guilty about skipping real food meals. If you are hungry but don't know what to eat you can just do a can and your hunger is gone and you didn't have to "eat" anything. You get to join the club with the rest of us G-tube people and give tell the people without one what it is like (haha ok so maybe this last one isn't a pro). Well that is all I can think of. There is probably more but I can't think of it at the moment. sorry it is so long but I want to make sure I tell you everything I can think of. I would be happy to answer any other questions you have. Feel free to PM me or you can e-mail me at annabananaarb@yahoo.com just put g-tube ? in your subject line

bananagirl · Feb 2, 2010

I have had my G-tube for 5 years and am at the point that I need a new one (mine is the kind that you can't just change every few months). For the most part I don't really mind having it I guess. It makes getting a swimsuit very hard because I don't exactly want to show it off to the world. but there are lots of swim shirts you can get and stuff like that which hide it. sometimes it shows through shirts ( i notice this quite often but i think that is because I know it is there) people used to ask me about it some but not so much anymore I just usually laughed it off and said it was my mutant twin or some other weird reason for a small bump on my stomach. When it first goes in be ready for it to HURT. I am the type of person that hates to sit in bed in a hospital gown. Every time I am in the hospital I spend my day in the chairs in the room dressed in normal clothes I am only on the bed for sleeping. After the tube was put in I was in the bed for at least 24 hours I didn't even change from the gown they made me wear to get it put in. The entire day I barely ate anything. I remember eating blue jello but I think that was it. All night the next night I couldn't sleep because I usually sleep on my stomach and it hurt way to much to even move a tiny bit let alone flip over onto it. I don't remember how long it continued to hurt but I know that I was wearing clothes again and out of bed sometime before my two week tune up was over. It did take a while for me to be able to walk with no pain, it is amazing how much we use our stomach muscles. It took a long time to be able to sleep on my stomach and I remember thinking I never would, but eventually I was able too. I also remember thinking how I had wished someone had told me really what to expect with a g-tube because the person I talked to told me it really didn't hurt much at all. some other cons are that occasionally it like sucks in (gets really tight against my skin) it isn't painful bit it is kinda annoying, it also occasionally gets caught on stuff like a table if you try to stand up to close to it. The valve on it gets looser after a while and it leeks some so I usually put a paper towel against it after I use it so that it doesn't get all over my clothes. When this gets so bad that it doesn't stop I put a new valve on. The last thing that bugs me is doing feedings overnight. I didn't like sleeping while hooked up to something. To solve this problem I do my cans by gravity in a syringe (just use a big one and pour formula in to it, let that go in then fill it up somemore) This works good but it sometimes gets annoying to hold the syringe with one arm for a while. I usually do this right before I go to bed. Sorry I lied I have one more con, it fills me up and I don't want to eat as much really food, this is mostly due to the fact that I do two cans before bed and two cans when I get home from school. I do the cans instead of eating cuz with the four cans I get 2,000 cal and with eating I would be lucky to get 500.
Ok now onto the pros
I get a lot of calories that I wouldn't get from just eating alone. They stop bothering me AS MUCH to eat more and eat those gross milkshake things, they do sitll bug me about it though, which the docs claimed would completely stop after I got the g-tube, this is because it seems that the g-tube wasn't that magic solution to my weight problem like they thought and I still seem to have trouble gaining weight despite diligently doing 4 cans everyday. Anyway back to more pros, You don't have to take nasty liquid med once you have it because you can always just pour it into you tube. If you get sick and don't feel like eating you can always just do extra cans and not feel guilty about skipping real food meals. If you are hungry but don't know what to eat you can just do a can and your hunger is gone and you didn't have to "eat" anything. You get to join the club with the rest of us G-tube people and give tell the people without one what it is like (haha ok so maybe this last one isn't a pro). Well that is all I can think of. There is probably more but I can't think of it at the moment. sorry it is so long but I want to make sure I tell you everything I can think of. I would be happy to answer any other questions you have. Feel free to PM me or you can e-mail me at annabananaarb@yahoo.com just put g-tube ? in your subject line

bananagirl · Feb 2, 2010

I have had my G-tube for 5 years and am at the point that I need a new one (mine is the kind that you can't just change every few months). For the most part I don't really mind having it I guess. It makes getting a swimsuit very hard because I don't exactly want to show it off to the world. but there are lots of swim shirts you can get and stuff like that which hide it. sometimes it shows through shirts ( i notice this quite often but i think that is because I know it is there) people used to ask me about it some but not so much anymore I just usually laughed it off and said it was my mutant twin or some other weird reason for a small bump on my stomach. When it first goes in be ready for it to HURT. I am the type of person that hates to sit in bed in a hospital gown. Every time I am in the hospital I spend my day in the chairs in the room dressed in normal clothes I am only on the bed for sleeping. After the tube was put in I was in the bed for at least 24 hours I didn't even change from the gown they made me wear to get it put in. The entire day I barely ate anything. I remember eating blue jello but I think that was it. All night the next night I couldn't sleep because I usually sleep on my stomach and it hurt way to much to even move a tiny bit let alone flip over onto it. I don't remember how long it continued to hurt but I know that I was wearing clothes again and out of bed sometime before my two week tune up was over. It did take a while for me to be able to walk with no pain, it is amazing how much we use our stomach muscles. It took a long time to be able to sleep on my stomach and I remember thinking I never would, but eventually I was able too. I also remember thinking how I had wished someone had told me really what to expect with a g-tube because the person I talked to told me it really didn't hurt much at all. some other cons are that occasionally it like sucks in (gets really tight against my skin) it isn't painful bit it is kinda annoying, it also occasionally gets caught on stuff like a table if you try to stand up to close to it. The valve on it gets looser after a while and it leeks some so I usually put a paper towel against it after I use it so that it doesn't get all over my clothes. When this gets so bad that it doesn't stop I put a new valve on. The last thing that bugs me is doing feedings overnight. I didn't like sleeping while hooked up to something. To solve this problem I do my cans by gravity in a syringe (just use a big one and pour formula in to it, let that go in then fill it up somemore) This works good but it sometimes gets annoying to hold the syringe with one arm for a while. I usually do this right before I go to bed. Sorry I lied I have one more con, it fills me up and I don't want to eat as much really food, this is mostly due to the fact that I do two cans before bed and two cans when I get home from school. I do the cans instead of eating cuz with the four cans I get 2,000 cal and with eating I would be lucky to get 500.
 Ok now onto the pros
 I get a lot of calories that I wouldn't get from just eating alone. They stop bothering me AS MUCH to eat more and eat those gross milkshake things, they do sitll bug me about it though, which the docs claimed would completely stop after I got the g-tube, this is because it seems that the g-tube wasn't that magic solution to my weight problem like they thought and I still seem to have trouble gaining weight despite diligently doing 4 cans everyday. Anyway back to more pros, You don't have to take nasty liquid med once you have it because you can always just pour it into you tube. If you get sick and don't feel like eating you can always just do extra cans and not feel guilty about skipping real food meals. If you are hungry but don't know what to eat you can just do a can and your hunger is gone and you didn't have to "eat" anything. You get to join the club with the rest of us G-tube people and give tell the people without one what it is like (haha ok so maybe this last one isn't a pro). Well that is all I can think of. There is probably more but I can't think of it at the moment. sorry it is so long but I want to make sure I tell you everything I can think of. I would be happy to answer any other questions you have. Feel free to PM me or you can e-mail me at annabananaarb@yahoo.com just put g-tube ? in your subject line

hockeykid · Feb 5, 2010

shortcody23,
I am sorry you are having issues with your TPN, As you already know, it can be quite harsh on the liver. If you have a stomach emptying problem like Gastroparesis, a g tube is not well tolerated except for using one to decompress your stomach. I know from personal experience. You might need a j tube (jejunal tube) instead. The only difference between a g tube and a j tube is where the feedings go. The j tubes feeding go in right below the stomach into the jejunum (small bowel). Doctors either thread this tubes in through your stomach or actually put the tube directly into the intestine. My tube is threaded through my stomach to my small bowel. It is a mic-key button that can be used as a g tube and a j tube.
If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

hockeykid · Feb 5, 2010

shortcody23,
I am sorry you are having issues with your TPN, As you already know, it can be quite harsh on the liver. If you have a stomach emptying problem like Gastroparesis, a g tube is not well tolerated except for using one to decompress your stomach. I know from personal experience. You might need a j tube (jejunal tube) instead. The only difference between a g tube and a j tube is where the feedings go. The j tubes feeding go in right below the stomach into the jejunum (small bowel). Doctors either thread this tubes in through your stomach or actually put the tube directly into the intestine. My tube is threaded through my stomach to my small bowel. It is a mic-key button that can be used as a g tube and a j tube.
If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

hockeykid · Feb 5, 2010

shortcody23,
I am sorry you are having issues with your TPN, As you already know, it can be quite harsh on the liver. If you have a stomach emptying problem like Gastroparesis, a g tube is not well tolerated except for using one to decompress your stomach. I know from personal experience. You might need a j tube (jejunal tube) instead. The only difference between a g tube and a j tube is where the feedings go. The j tubes feeding go in right below the stomach into the jejunum (small bowel). Doctors either thread this tubes in through your stomach or actually put the tube directly into the intestine. My tube is threaded through my stomach to my small bowel. It is a mic-key button that can be used as a g tube and a j tube.
If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

hockeykid · Feb 5, 2010

shortcody23,
I am sorry you are having issues with your TPN, As you already know, it can be quite harsh on the liver. If you have a stomach emptying problem like Gastroparesis, a g tube is not well tolerated except for using one to decompress your stomach. I know from personal experience. You might need a j tube (jejunal tube) instead. The only difference between a g tube and a j tube is where the feedings go. The j tubes feeding go in right below the stomach into the jejunum (small bowel). Doctors either thread this tubes in through your stomach or actually put the tube directly into the intestine. My tube is threaded through my stomach to my small bowel. It is a mic-key button that can be used as a g tube and a j tube.
If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

hockeykid · Feb 5, 2010

shortcody23,
 I am sorry you are having issues with your TPN, As you already know, it can be quite harsh on the liver. If you have a stomach emptying problem like Gastroparesis, a g tube is not well tolerated except for using one to decompress your stomach. I know from personal experience. You might need a j tube (jejunal tube) instead. The only difference between a g tube and a j tube is where the feedings go. The j tubes feeding go in right below the stomach into the jejunum (small bowel). Doctors either thread this tubes in through your stomach or actually put the tube directly into the intestine. My tube is threaded through my stomach to my small bowel. It is a mic-key button that can be used as a g tube and a j tube.
 If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

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