Hi this is my first post to anything ever. My husband had a PEG for well over a year and I was very inventive. We also got very little advise after it was inserted - like going home with a new baby.
Here are a couple of things I learned. My husbands tube was quite long and they taped it in place. That gets old and irritated his skin. I bought a very wide ace bandage and made a belt for him using velcro to make a pocket to secure the tube in place it worked very well especially sleeping and then we only taped it when he took a shower.
Another tip I got from the visiting nurse. And suggest you run this by professionals. If the site oozes this may be stomach acid and a few drops of Mylanta or Milk of Magnesia will neutralize the acid. I filled a small dropper bottle with this. Put a drop on when I changed the dressing. He never had a problem with the site.
The tube can get anything in it that is in your stomach. Chew well and then chew some more enjoy the taste. Tom(my husband) could not swallow anything so that was not a problem.
Also I invented a sort of 3rd hand for his feeding. I got a floor lamp and took the wiring out and light off so I was left with the stand and then took a swimming noodle and cut a 9 in piece off and then cut it down the back so it would grip to the pole. I cut the foam to fit the syringe and put the sticky Velco around the foam. (a picture is worth a thousand words) Now velcro your syringe and attach your tube making sure a piece of velcro secures the port that it will not separate from the syringe (what a mess) Now sit back and have a leisurely lunch.
I would like to say for anyone reading this that I think a "proactive " approach is best. This macho thing of not getting a feeding tube is a case of denial. My husbands first time around he refused the feeding tube and lost 30 lbs and looked terrible he was just at that point of either stop radiation or get a feeding tube. Don't make things more difficult than it has to be -on yourself and the people who love you.