Thanks Charm. I appreciate your support!

Hi David,

I've had a mic-key button for the last 8 1/2 years, six months after the initial tube was placed. I swear by it! It gives me complete mobility. I am 59 years and very active, exercising daily and moving about all through the day. I don'tr even notice the mic-key most of the time. It's easy to clean around it - I do it once a day in the shower. One time in 8 years I had a granulation issue because the length was too short and we changed it to the proper length. You need to be measured for the proper French thickness and the length. Thickness can be anywhere from 8FF to 24FF. Mine is 20FF. I recommend going with a larger size especially if your doing syringe feedings. Length can be anywhere from perhaps 3cm to 5.5cm. Mine is 5.0cm. It all depends on the thickness of your stomach wall - thus the need to measure. Gastro docs have a measuring device.

Someone posted that mic-keys are mostly for children. I'm pretty sure they are for children and adults alike. I'm on Medicare Disability and Medicare pays for a new mic-key every three months. After a while the mic-key does start to discolor and sometimes will leak if it's worn out. I change mine no matter what after 3 months. I've heard of mic-keys lasting as long as nine months but that's probably an exception. I change it myself, it's very easy to do in about 5-10 minutes.

I've seen other posts about meds clogging the extensions. I crush my pill meds using a pestle, add water in a shot glass and stir thoroughly. Capsules I open up and do the same thing. If I try to do a lot of meds it clogs more easily but otherwise it normally doesn't. A trick I use is to leave some air in the syringe, shake the meds right before plunging the syringe and it goes right in most of the time. It it does clog, I pull back on the syringe and try again until it goes in. It works most of the time.

I exclusively "eat" four meals a day made from fresh unprocessed food and don't ever have a problem putting it through. Sometimes I may have to add water to thin it but otherwise it works fine.

I think you'll be glad you switched to a mic-key if you do it. It makes quality of life so much better.

Blessings,

Jesse

[quote=DYM] It it does clog, I pull back on the syringe and try again until it goes in. It works most of the time.

[/quote]


If anyone has a J/G tube DO NOT EVER pull back on the syringe!!! This will cause the balloon to deflate and it could pull the tube out from your gasto/stomach areas. Never even pull back on the syringe to check for residual when using the J?G tube. You do not want to have this happen as this type of feeding tube cannot simply be slid right back in. It is held in place not only by the balloon but also stitches. I have mine changed every 2 - 4 months as it wears out.

Jesse,

Thanks for note. I am even more motivated! My procedure to get the button is in an hour. Can't wait. Were you shown how to change it yourself or did you figure it out?

David

PS I'd love to know more about your unprocessed meals.

Hi David,

I hope all went well with your mic-key button placement. I was told how to replace it by a nurse at Mayo Clinic Rochester where I had it placed. As with anything until you do it yourself you don't fully know how it's going to work. The first couple times I was nervous but it was an easy process. I make sure to change it on an empty stomach and I lie flat. I use distilled water to fill the balloon and always test the new mic-key to be sure there are no leaks in the balloon. I deflate the existing one, pull it out (it should slide out easily). I use k-y gel around the new one so it slides in easy, inflate the balloon (I use 5cc of water) and it's good to go. I change mine every three months whether it needs it or not since Medicare pays for a new one every three months.

I knew from day one that I did not want to live on canned formulas. I am an active male who exercises 5x week. I saw no reason why I couldn't blend food and put it through the tube (this was before I knew about forums like this). So I started experimenting and over the years I developed over 100 Zone recipes made almost entirely from fresh unprocessed foods - in other words fresh veggies, fruits, whole grains, whole nuts, good fats like virgin olive oil, and good protein like farm raised poultry and wild caught fish. Food as close to being from the farm to the table without preservatives, additives, sugar, and whatever else they put in a lot of processed foods. I've maintained my weight, remain active and overall feel very healthy despite the numerous side effects I have.

I felt a need to share with other tubefeeders so I created www.drinkyourmeals.com which not only has the recipes but enables you to create your own recipes and menu plans among many other useful tools. It is free to all tubefeeders. Starting June 1 once a month Drink Your Meals is giving away a free Vitamix to a tubefeeder in financial need (send a request with your story to [email protected] to be considered). In my opinion a Vitamix is a must have kitchen tool for any tubefeeder doing blended meals. It breaks my heart when I hear about a tubefeeder or tubefeeder's family who can't do real food because they can't afford a Vitamix. In my opinion there is no better way to good health than "eating" real healthy food.

Blessings,

Jesse

Hey dim - how much is a vita mix?

Cheryl --

This thread started by Charm notes that oral cancer patients can get a medical discount on the Vitamix, making the cost around $300. I expect he'd have information on how that works.

As Leslie notes, I did find Vitamix's medical discount program worked out very well for me. While the contact information is readily available and routinely repeated on all the blenderized diet forums now, the OCF forum has always been a one stop information resource. I thought I had posted this information before but couldn't find it myself so here it is:
Send an email to
Ms. Sandy Ventimiglia
[email protected]
that spells out you have a gtube and oral cancer and give your home phone number and she usually calls you.
I had my doctor write a "prescription" for the vitamix - saying i needed it for my gtube but posters on the other forum say Sandy takes other medical documentation. I just scanned it in and sent it as an attachment reply email to Sandy along with my address for shipping. With tax & shipping,it came to $314
Please remember, OCF does not endorse Vitamix nor recommend it - I'm just a fan, and I see from Jesse's website, he is also.

David

so how did the Mickey button go? I even checked your blog in case you posted there instead of OCF, but nada.
I want to try one but have to learn how to change it myself since even after insurance, it still costs me $200 a visit out of my pocket each time the doctors change my tube. With the G tube, it's only twice a year, but everything I have read on all the forums supports Jesse's practice of changing the button every three months, even the MicKey web site. 4 times a year means it'd be $800 a year cost instead of $400.
But back to you: what's your first impression? Easy to use those clip on tubes? No problems with the anti reflux valve?
Please don't keep me in suspense
Charm

Thanks I was considering donating the funds for one or part of one that's all...