Jeepster,
I have a great idea for the gravity feed tube...or at least it seems great in my simple mind. There are some little tube extenders either in the hardware store or a science supply store that are used to splice two pieces of tube together. If you get the hardware store version be sure and clean thoroughly
. They are somewhat cone shaped on the ends so they fit different sized tubing. Cut the tube to the length you want and splice it back together.
Another thought, when I was feeding intravenously and taking bags of fluid a day, the home healthcare agency brought me a portable pump that is in a backpack to encourage me to get out and do things. I watched the entire football season with my youngest son while fluids were pumping into the veins, sometimes feeding as well. They told me there was an enteral feeding pump that was portable, too.
On another note, does Dan have any golfing buddies, friends from church, work, etc.? As Helen mentioned, sometimes it is easier to just "check out" than deal with this disease and I had a friend come over and we watched movies once a week. I usually dozed off during the movie but it was a lot of fun to have someone around.
Take care of yourself. My wife loves to get her toes done. If I had ever discovered something so affordable could do so much, I would have sent her daily the past four years!
I think one of the toughest things about a disease as ravaging as cancer is that each of us deals with this in such unique ways and my wife used to get so mad at me because I wasn't doing things the way she wanted me to. Over time, we found ways to compromise by me giving in totally
. I hope Dan sees everything you are doing to help him re-establishing some type of normalcy in his life. It is great he is golfing even 9 holes a week. Maybe a secret phone call to some golf buddies would get him out a couple of times a week. Just a thought.
Another tough thing to consider is that you are not responsible for his behavior. Letting his lack of "want to" affect your serenity is not good for anybody.
I remember going to see the Passion of the Christ movie and even though I had not had popcorn for many months, I could not go to the movies without popcorn. It was not the most fun experience I remember and I threw most of it out but just the taste of that hot buttery stuff rolling around in my cotton lined mouth and that sip of the sweet, carbonated thrush-inducing coke was just awesome.
As always, I am hoping for the best for you and Dan.
Ed
