Hi Everyone,

I am throat cancer survivor with a G-tube. For the past 7 years I have been blending my own feedings using fresh foods. I have started a website that features over 100 recipes and would like to share my site with you, www.drinkyourmeals.com. It is free for all tube feeders.

In addition to the recipes, the site also features a recipe builder that provides nutrition information so you can create your own recipes. I also have a dietitian on staff to help answer questions.

I also giveaway one Vitamix a month. You can enter to win a Vitamix by sending your story to [email protected].


Best,

Jesse

Welcome to the OCF forum Jesse. I've seen your similar posts on the Oley foundation website, the Yahoo BD group, the breakaway BD forum, and even in the comments to Roger Ebert's blog but it did not seem to fit my idiosyncratic needs for recipes that work for both normal eaters and BD.
I've signed up for the free tubefeeder beta test and after looking over your site have two questions.
1. Are there any recipes for a meal that a regular person can eat and that a tubefeeder could just put into the Vitamix?
I've looked and looked and all I could find are directions to put the ingredients into a soup or stew or broth - even Salmon provencal. While these cooking methods do comport with the advice on the other tube sites, I've found almost all those members to be caregiver mothers who prepare the food for their child or else patients cooking for one. My situation is different, my wife cooks dinner for the two of us and then I take my plate and slide my portion into the Vitamix. She is a wonderful caregiver but I don't want us both on a liquid diet.
2. In your tube tips you mention that your recipes work best for syringe feeding with a 16,18, or 20 French size tube. That has been my experience also. But mickey buttons and other lowprofile tubes have only a 12FR anti-reflux valve regardless if they have a larger FR tube size. Has this been an issue for your members?
Again, thanks for your offer to tube feeders. Most of the OCF posters who use PEGs only do it for a short time so they may have been hesitant to join a site requiring a credit card (I liked how that all disappeared after clicking tubefeeder and free). There is unfortunately a growing number of us who are in the tube business for the long haul.
Congratulations on being such a strong survivor.
Charm

Welcome, Jesse, and thank you for joining OCF. "Drink Your Meals" is a valuable resource. I am a G-tube with syringe feeder and use a 14 French. Your website indicated blended meals were suitable for an 8 through 20 French. Is that accurate? My hesitancy in moving from formula to a blenderized diet is tube clogging. I am six years out from surgery and radiation, but I am now dealing with trismus, ORN, and dysphagia. Due to weight loss I had a PEG placed in March. I may also have my PEG "for the long haul." Real meals preparation with odors of fresh fruits and vegetables and spices and herbs has an appeal. I still enjoy food smells and the tactile prep of foods, and I do believe that with careful attention to diet and calories "real food" is best for our bodies. I am so happy to add my welcome to OCF.

Zenda

For what it is worth, I have zero problems with tube clogging on my Blenderized Diet dinner each night. If it works for my dinners, (which are just regular meals like fish and vegetables, or stir-fried tofu or eggplant casserole with a little cup of fruit and yogurt), Jesse's special recipes using that broth and stew/soup method would seem to be even more tube friendly although I have not tried any.
I have a 16 French tube but the extensions/extenders I use which have the clamp and orange tip are only 10FR. They actually break or leak rather than clog but I just throw it away and plug in a new one.
Although I only use the same one syringe for an entire day as my insurance will only pay for 30 syringes a month, so I don't follow Jesse's 4 syringes at a time practice. My experience and others on BD boards is that the syringes are deliberately manufactured to have the seal degrade in a day even when washed and be disposable a purported automatic health feature which also happens to be a convenient way to increase sales.
Whew, long way to say if you can syringe canned food, you can syringe BD but IMO you will need a good blender like a Vitamix. (Vitamix offers a reconditioned one at a medical discount for g tube & PEG users . I've posted that info before but if you can' find it, just PM me and I'll send it to you - I've been very happy with mine and it has the same warranty as a new one and the blender container is brand new. )
Charm

Charm,

Thanks so much for the information re your experience, tube size ~ mine is 14 and has no smaller extenders, so I believe I am good to go! I'll begin with one of the Drink Your Meals recipes once a day to replace one of my six cans of Jevity. I have really liked my regularity with the Jevity so I won't make any drastic changes and may just stay with a blenderized meal once a day. I do have a Vitamix and would not consider this change if I did not have one. AND thanks too re the disposable syringes: I have been receiving only 10 per month!! I am building biceps struggling with those for more than one day. I'll call my provider today. I agree that the seal degrades after 5 or 6 meals. Once again you have shared some valuable experiences to provide guidance for me and other OCF members.

Life expectancy of a syringe has not been discussed before on the forum. I understand why the seals breakdown so quickly, its the way they are being used. My syringes I change once a week. I use 2 at a time. So in a month I go thru 8+. When I travel, I take 4 with me just in case I run into any problem. My insurance paid for 15 per month and I have skipped getting syringes many months so I dont have a stockpile or I would send some to you Zenda.

Since I only use my syringes to take already formulated liquid medications, my syringes do not wear out. Ive noticed when I have taken medications that I dissolve myself, it is grittier and will affect the syringes making them breakdown faster. The same must be true when putting formulas and food down the syringes.

Best of luck with the blenderized meals. Ive heard wonderful things from Charm about this.

Hi Charm,

Happy to answer your questions. Any of the Drink Your Meals recipes can be eaten as a "regular person" meal. Instead of following the soup like recipes you will have to cook the individual ingredients to your liking - bake the salmon, steam the veggies, etc. Your wife will have to add spices to suit her taste preference. All you would have to do is add the broth or other liquid amount when you put your portion in the Vitamix. When you create a Menu and print a recipe it will automatically adjust to your daily calorie needs as you've input in Member Home/My Profile and My Plan/Menu Preferences. Double the recipe and you'll have two portions.

I have never had an issue using syringes and bolus feeding with the mic-key button using a 20FF tube size. The Vitamix pulverizes everything. If a meal is on the thick side it may be harder to push the syringe. When that happens I add water to thin it and carry on. Mentally I'm so satisfied knowing that that I'm getting fresh unprocessed food every meal. My body feels the difference too!

Blessings,

Jesse

Hi Zenda,

Thanks for the warm welcome. I use a 20FF tube but have tested 8, 10, 14, & 16FF tubes to make sure a blended real food meal will work. They all worked. The only thing I found was that as the size got smaller it may be harder to push the syringe. If that happens simply add water to thin the meal and you should have no problems.

Glad to hear you have a Vitamix. IMO a Vitamix is a must have for tubefeeders doing real food. It pulverizes anything you put in it. My rule of thumb is blending for a minimum of 90 seconds up to 2 minutes. Occasionally a small piece will not be blended and get stuck in the tube. If you're using a mic-key with a removable extension, I simply remove the extension and put the extension upside down under the faucet to clear it. In nine years I've had almost no issues with clogging. I have never had the mic-key button itself get clogged.

Are you planning to switch to a mic-key button g-tube? I've used a mic-key button since the after the initial tube was removed about six months after placement. It gives me total freedom with no long tube to deal with. I attach an extension at meal times only. I change the mic-key myself every three months.

Blessings,

Jesse

Zenda,

I use 60cc Monoject catheter tip syringes made by Kendall. What do you use? I'm on Medicare Disability so Medicare pays for 30 a month for me. It works out perfect because I use exactly 30 per month. Instead of doing one per day which would make mealtime go longer I use four per meal (unless my wife helps me, then I use two). I'm done "eating" in under fifteen minutes. If you have to purchase here's a great site that currently has a box of 20 for $10.57 at http://www.allegromedical.com/cathe...e-catheter-tip-non-sterile-p547771.html.

I'm trying to figure out why you have a struggle using the syringes after only one day. I use mine most of the time for four days by simply rinsing them with warm water. Possible answer is 1)you're using a poor brand, 2) the ingredients in Jevity are causing the problem (I use Compleat when I have to use a canned formula when I travel but don't have any problems). I've noticed that washing the syringes with soap causes them to stiffen (so rinse with warm water only) and oil causes them to stiffen too (I take liquid omega 3 oil daily in a separate syringe that I don't use for meals).

Good luck!

Jesse

Thank you, Jesse, for more valuable information! I did not know that Medicare will pay for 30 syringes per month. I too have Medicare SSDI. I use BD 60ml catheter tip syringes and have tried a variety of keep clean methods, none of which seem to extend the life of the syringe. With 30 per month there should not be a problem. I do use the same syringe for my crushed meds and formula, and that might cause the short life problem. I have heard positives about the mic-key and will check with my doctor when it's time to change my tube.