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