I am on my third cancer but this time will HAVE to use pegg tube.

Please flood me with messages about
What equipment used
Food fed
How was it injected. Pole? Pump? Syringe?
Any home made workable food? I am being told must be much more liquid than I would have thought or trouble ensues.

Help. Also any realistic advice for this social drinker

Donna Butcher. Aka pandora

I just posted two days ago my current go to blend of items that I eat 60% of the time. I have a second blend that requires a little more prep time, but has a different composition, and between the two I’ve consistently maintained or gained weight, and been strong enough to exercise pretty hard at physical therapy appointments twice a week.

Post to me what kind of blender you have, and we can sort that out as well. If you are going to prepare real food and end up with something that goes through the PEG tube easily with a minimum of fuss this is important. Also the French size and type of tube. 20 French or larger in diameter works great, anything smaller and it’s going to be more difficult to eat blended food. Luckily these are mostly easy to change out particularly if they are balloon retained as mine is. I change my PEG tube out at home every couple months. But the Gastroentorolgy doc can do it easily, if he understands what you want and why.

I’d like to understand what you have been doing up to this point. And if you have someone that can help you with this. Like real life, it requires some regular shopping, and some Amazon purchases to do correctly. Once you get in the rhythm of it, it is very straight forward.

I blend enough one day to get me through two days of meals, and keep it ready to go in the refrigerator in disposable cups. I am busy so I don’t have time to sit around with a drip feed, and I syringe bolus feed my meals. It takes about 15 minutes per meal. Clean up is just washing out the detachable part of my Mik-Key PEG button and the syringes, and tossing the cups. Too simple. I will share more details with you when I’m sure I understand your situation.

Here is the link to the thread with my blend recipe on it.

https://oralcancersupport.org/forum...e-help-and-hope-for-some-info#Post201149

We tried a lot of blenders before we developed a relationship with Vitamix. You will find lots of opinions from people but we actually bought the three top brands and put them through their paces. It wasn’t a surprise that the brand chosen most often by commercial kitchens, that has to do a fantastic job in producing very fine blends and do it day in and out without issues or breakdown was the Vitamix. It was also the most expensive. That said having a cheaper one that breaks down is a real problem when your ability to eat every day depends on it. Having your tube clog over and over because the blend isn’t smooth enough, no one has time for, particularly if your tube feeding line is not detachable, and easily cleared.

Vitamix can be acquired through numerous sources of which OCF is one.

They have more models than others, but for us as PEG tube people, most of those fancy features we don’t need to spend money on. So here’s one confusing part, because they sell through lots of stores, Costco, Williams Senoma, and others. In order to do that, the exact same machine can have different names and model numbers. That way the public cannot easily comparison shop prices. Good marketing idea perhaps, but it makes things confusing.

So we need to look at features, not names or model numbers. Also we handle a lot of their refurbished units which you can’t tell from new, and those also have long term warranties. So we check that inventory first.

The important features are a 2.0 or 2.2 horsepower motor. A four inch blade is preferable but the three is almost as effective. The four inch for the same number of rpms will have its tips spinning much faster, helping the final smoothness of your blend. The bowel should be their large one over 60 ounces of blend capacity. And if you want it to fit under your upper kitchen cabinets since it will be out all the time, NOT one if their tall bowels. They put various colors on sale occasionally, and we don’t care about that so which ever color is on sale is our go to.

With all this in mind, visit their website at Vitamix.com and start your search. “Next Generation” units are a good start. They have all the features we are looking for. So next gen refurbished is a good choice. Remembering they have lots of models, but ignore that and look at the spec sheet. If it meets the above criteria then you have found your machine. We don’t need a machine that has pre programmed features. That adds a lot to cost and we are doing only one thing.

If you would like me to do this for you I will. But we need to get a unit in your hands quickly.

Armed with that you will need plastic 60cc syringes to bolus feed your blend into your peg. In the US Medicare, gives me tons each month for free. I’m not sure of your situation in Canada. You will need a supply of 20 oz paper cups, which are the cheapest ordered through Amazon. I will get you a link. Ok now you are armed to feed yourself starting with my recipe. Don’t worry about the amount of water, someone has mentioned to you. They are probably thinking of bag drip feeding, and we are not doing that. You can thin any batch with it, and you will need two or three 60cc syringes of water to flush your tube at the end of feeding.

More after I see you post a reply. B

Hello.
Thankfully...l no longer need to use tube feeding...however, l am on a very strict food regimen due to severe scaring from brutal treatments resulting in lingering side effects.
I reccomend you purchase a Neutrabullet
Blender for smoothies and shakes. etc.,
I have used one daily for 7years..and it's still going strong...it will blend and pulverize anything ..including large nuts and frozen foods.
Walmart seems to be the cheapest buy ..prices start at a $99.00.
I always add a couple of raw eggs into my shakes & smoothies for added protein.

Good Luck to you..!!

Welcome to OCF. Glad to have you here and to have your input exiledbrit. The blender issue is something that we have dealt with for a long time. We bought about 8 different brands years ago and tested them all, your favorite among them. The majority of people that we service with blenders do have PEG tubes, and they have a sizable learning curve to understand proper nutrition and get the blending of real foods done to stay both heathly and keep or gain weight. Those peg tubes if they are a 20 French size which is the most common, are about 5mm internal diameter. Everything that you bolus feed into them has to be actually liquid. If you drip feed this is more problematic which a few do with pumps and the like. The Vitamix was the only brand that had the horsepower to take anything we threw at it from chunks of steak on the harder to blend into liquid end, to the simpler frozen fruits and veggies and beans and nuts. If people are drinking smoothies they have the luxury of not have to have such a fine consistency. The warrantee that Vitamix has is an industry leading 7 years no questions asked if there is a problem. And they will pay the shipping for an issue both directions. When people are actually daily dependent on getting a real balanced meal in without issues, OCF will opt for the more horsepower, bigger blade which the tips of turn faster given the same rpmand power draw, and a bowl that is big enough to make a couple days worth of smoothies at a time so that your days are not spent only blending, cleaning, eating and buying foods, and you have time for a real life as well. But everyone is entitled to an opinion and a favorite. And since we buy these and pay for them, ultimately giving them away to patients that have a financial disparity besides the need, we want them to have what in testing with several full time PEG patients as well as with the office staff, worked the best.

Please note the dates on things that you post to. This particular thread question is 6 months old and the poster has already made the trip they were concerned about to the UK. But please keep posting. A variety of perspectives is always important. B