Drink your meals. With a Vitamix, you can blend most of what you would eat. It tastes like food not terrible like Jevity or the other nutrients. In reading posts here about the PEG, a recent one by Christine struck me. She posted that if she could stand the taste of the canned nutrients, she could get rid of the PEG since she can swallow. Other posters have said that they stayed on their PEG because they had difficulty swallowing enough calories. Here's something to consider

I have been intrigued by the Blenderized Diet people. The primary proponents are mothers whose children require a feeding tube. For both health and psychological reasons, they want their child to be able to join in the meals with the family in some way. Here is a link to a brand new Blenderized Diet site/forum.
BD forum Full Disclosure, I post there also as I have found this to be more fun than the other sites on BD such as the Yahoo group and the Syracuse University List serve and even the Oley Foundation.
Nothing is easier than food fully blended. Don't forget that oral cancer patients can get a medical discount on a Vitamix 5200 (reduced to $300) -Even more disclosures: I don't get any commissions but I am biased in Vitamix's favor since they picked my story as one of their Inspiration winners and I just got my coffee table book with it published in the mail.
This has no relevance to the majority of OCF posters but for those of us who do deal with food and peg issues, it's a good source of information.
Coincidence: the main posters on the Adult G tube forum are named Eric, Brian and Charm2017
Charm

Thanks, Charm, for your post about this amazing machine. I have had increased dysphagia in the past six months and invested in a Vitamix. Fun, easy to use and allows for creativity in taste and thickness of the blended drinks. I can easily swallow honey consistency food/drinks and like to cook soups in my Vitamix using pasta as my thickener with cooked vegetables. Terrific for smoothies as well. I use Carnation VHC with a few tablespoons of coconut water and unsweetened frozen fruit such as strawberries and peaches, mix for a minute and have a tasty, not too sweet or too chemical meal. I have used Thick-It to thicken liquids, but I find it gritty. Thanks too for the new BD Forum site.

Charm, thanks for the info!!!! First I didnt know about cooking soup in the vitamix. Maybe I saw it before but this mind of mine just keeps misplacing info!!! LOL

You are right on target that I have my tube cuz of my pickiness. In fact on Tuesday I have to go have the darn thing replaced again. How I hate that, its a bit uncomfortable. The whole time I lie there telling myself that little kids do this so I can too. For me its a mental block that I just cant get over. I detest the smell of the formula so much that Im ready to gag before the stuff ever gets close to my lips. I just cant eat enough to sustain myself with a balanced diet. My sense of taste is as near perfect as I am going to get. I also do not have any teeth and that is something that will never change. If I had teeth to chew food Im sure I would do much better than I am now.

Ive seen a juicer in action last month in California. The director had a very bad cold. At the wardrobe place they made him an awful concoction full of garlic, onion, ginger and some other equally nasty things. I watched this whole thing and saw him drink about 12 oz of it. The whole time I was thinking to myself that if I had to do that I would puke for sure. Very next morning he was good as new, the cold was completely gone. I was shocked that it actually worked.

I might have to invest on one of these things! Thanks Charm!!!

Christine

click on that link and read about the blenderized diet. When we finally meet you at the San Antonio Texas OCF walk, my wife will share her Vitamix tips and tricks.
Charm

Zenda

Enjoy this new site and thank you for the kind words
charm

Charm,

Thanks for all this information! I can eat but my tasters will never be 100% again and with my still-slightly-dry-mouth and less agile tongue, eating is still and will always be a hassle. There is no such thing as a 'quick bite to eat' in my life anymore which I admit, gets in the way of eating a proper diet when I'm busy. Blenderizing might be a great addition for some healthy on-the-go meals.


- Margaret

Could someone explain the differences in using the "vita mix" and a regular blender. I have a G Tube and have been using a reg. blender. If the process was def. improved I would consider getting one.What can it do that a blender can't? thank you for your input!
Marianne

The general consensus on the Blenderized Diet forums and internet boards as well my own personal experience is that the Vitamix blender simply works better than any other blender.
The motor is more powerful, the blades are sharper, it's simply the best of the best. Even Consumer Reports says so.
However, it's expensive (although about $300 with a medical discount) and other blenders do work well for many people.
It's like cars, my Hyundai Excel zips down the highway and works just fine for me - it's like the regular blenders. I can not afford a Mercedes Benz or a BMW and that's fine with me. My inexpensive car works fine. But the price difference between a department store blender and the very best one in the world was affordable for me so I splurged on myself. Would I have if I could swallow? Maybe not, but the Vitamix never ever clogs my feeding tube and it pulverizes everything, even the thick steak I did with my son, plus the more usual tofu I do with my wife. I just got back from our trip to San Antonio and I went out and got Chinese take out and dumped it into my Vitamix and smooth as silk down my tube.
Charm