Good news is that Mom has been home 3 days now. Bad news is that with care not as good as the nursing staff in her rehab facility, her jejunal tube--where the food goes--is blocked. We have tried hot water, have tried Coke, nothing is working. Csn someone please advise? My sister is caring for her and she is feeding her tonight through the gastric tube, normally where medicine goes. Is this okay?

Thanks! Y'all are who I get my direction from!

Does your mother have a J/G tube? Does the top have 3 ports? One for the stomach, one teeny tiny one that would only fit a needle to go in and the 3rd one the biggest part going into her intestine? If this is what she has, I have the same kind. DO NOT PULL THIS OUT!!!!! There are stitches inside holding this in place. Another huge item is NEVER EVER pull back to get a residual on this kind of feeding tube. It could dislodge it. I did give you other into of your other post.

Keep working on it. Yes, its ok to use the skinny side for the feeding. I would suggest watering down the formula as this part is very small and would clog even easier. You can try to push just air thru too. If you cant get it call for help wither a visiting nurse or gastro doc. Someone should be on call. this would be considered an emergency so if you cant get help then go to the ER. This type of tube needs to be replaced every few months. I usually go about every 2-3 months.

My mother had ovarian cancer and had a G/J tube with a weight on the jejunum end that just allowed it to natural gravitate by the digestive process into the jejunum. When she pulled her tube out in the middle of the night getting it caught as she was going to the bathroom they put one in that was much smaller in diameter and although they told us not to put crushed meds in, the nurse told us to go ahead and do it anyway. It got clogged the second night and the nurses actually called Senior Protective Services on me. That was a wild time. The key is to flush daily and we even got it to unclog with cranberry juice and saved the Coke as a last resort. The night before we were going to the Bahamas the water valve leaked and the tube came out and the doctor told me to put it back in but also told me it will get infected so enjoy the trip and deal with it when we got back home. If your mom has a G/J tube it needs to be switched out in a sterile environment like an OR. If it is just a Peg tube it can be done in an office.

To answer your specific question, you can feed through the gastric tub provided you are not using the formula intended to be feed directly to the jejunum as it is partially digested (to oversimplify the discussion) and not the same as Ensure. Likewise you could not put Ensure into the jejunal tube as it will cause a lot of digestive discomfort. Get her to the doctor to be safe.

Ed

Here's an update on Mom--took her to the ER Monday after spending the morning being railroaded by ENT and Interventional Radiology. Wasted 5 hours in the ER as they were comfortable exchanging the J/G for a regular PEG, but that was all ER was willing to do. Thankfully, we have an appt this afternoon with IR to replace the J/G tube. AND thanks to y'alls expertise I will make an appt for a tube replace 3 months from today!

For the J/G tube it isnt something you can plan on your calendar. Sometimes I need to have mine changed at 6 weeks and once I went almost to 4 months without a change. Its a simple procedure done as outpatient with just a shot of lidocaine in the stomach. The shots is the worst part of the whole thing. Pay careful attention to the tube and flush it several times per day. When you see the tube become kind of kinky and slightly curled it would be nearing the end of its lifespan. If the cap doesnt close tightly and it becomes leaky then it will need to be changed also. When you think its almost time for a new one, call her gastro doc's office and explain its a J/G tube which wears out and it needs to be replaced. My gastro doc usually gets me scheduled for a swap within a few days.

Glad you have gotten her tube changed to the PEG. I personally like the J/G much better even though having it changed is a bit of a pain.