Ive had my feeding tube in since early March. Its coming out Thursday (Hallelujah!!!) But I have a problem. I was giving myself some crushed up vitamins that are too big for me to swallow through the tube tonight. When I went to flush with water afterward I couldn't get my plunger to move(wouldn't plunge so to speak) I noticed that the top to the white decompression valve thing is missing.I have no idea where it could have gone. Its not a big deal as it is coming out Thursday and I'm eating on my own ok. I'm just wondering if this would harm me in any way.Any thoughts?

What kind of feeding tube do you have? A PEG tube where it goes right into your stomach? Or is it a J-G tube where it has a port for a tube that goes into your intestines and a smaller tube inside of that which is into your stomach? What exactly is missing from your tube?

When giving crushed medications, dissolve them in water and be extra careful that there arent any chunks of medicine that could get stuck. This info is for anyone reading this thread who needs to take meds this way.

Its a PEG and its the decompression vent the top popped off and I cant find it.

Plantgirl

Congratulations on getting your feeding tube out tomorrow!
If it were not a sin, I would envy you.
Relax today. The only valve a regular PEG tube has is the one that takes the water to fill up the balloon that holds it in. The actual tube itself goes directly to the stomach with no valves in between. The worse that can happen is that the valve leaks water and your PEG would fall out on its own before the doctors pull it out.
Unless you mean the closure to the end of your tube. That needs to be capped or else the tube clamped. Bottom line:
If nothing is coming out of your stomach thru the tube, you are fine.

I never heard of a decompression valve. Buttons, or low profile G tubes, have two valves. The same water valve as a PEG plus an anti-reflux valve that prevents the stomach contents from coming back out once the feeding extension is unhooked. That anti reflux valve also has a plastic cap but it is just extra insurance to keep debris out.

Christine is right about crushing medicine well. Enjoy your tube free life

Charm

http://oralcancerfoundation.org/dental/images/feeding-tube.jpg

Heres a pic. Its the one on the far right with the little bump on top. That bump is whats missing. Sorry for the confusion.

I would cover it tightly with a piece of tape so nothing can seep out. It almost looks like a J-G tube except there isnt that extra skinny longer tube.

Congrats on being able to be tube free!!!!! Its a great feeling!!!!

Thanks! I cant wait until tomorrow. I really am sick ofit..have had nothing but trouble with the darn thing from infections to having one of the covers come undone during the night and leaking stomach fluids all over me. (Sorry for that mental image). Anyway I will be happy to be rid of it. How long does it take for the opening to heal?

GOOD luck.. having it removed is easy! and you'll be free! hugs

Plant girl

Yep, a picture is worth a thousand words. The "one on the right with the little bump" is the valve used to inflate the balloon to hold in your tube. It does not connect to your stomach but only to the balloon. So the only danger is that it could be damaged or have leaked and your tube is just hanging in your stomach. And that's not much of danger since all that would happen is your tube would come out a day early.

I wish I could tell you from experience how fast the hole would completely heal, but all I can share is that the first time my tube fell out due to a broken valve like yours, the hole had narrowed so much in one hour that they had difficulty putting a replacement in. But luckily for you, OCF has plenty of posters who had temporary PEGS so they would know . I know it took my tracheotomy stoma about two months to heal but it was so much bigger.
Charm

[b][/b]Thanks Charm. I know what you mean about the trach stoma. Mines been out for two months and its still not fully closed.