My grandmother, who is 94, had surgery on Tuesday to remove the cancer from the inside of her cheek, jaw and roof of mouth. They also took the lymph nodes on that side but we don't yet have the biopsy results on those. She has been recovering unbelievably well, from my perspective, over the past six days since the surgery and went home yesterday. She is now at home, with my aunt providing 24/7 care for now, but we have a big question. She has a temporary feeding tube still through her nose and we are giving her Ensure. The problem is that the Ensure appears to give her diarrhea, which seems to defeat the purpose. My aunt has been trying her on some broth instead, but that's not going to give her enough calories to sustain her weight. I found this forum as I am trying to figure out what we can put in the tube that will help her. She has had NO pain medications at all since the surgery; she says she doesn't need them. Is this unusual?

Call the surgical doc's nurse and ask -- Be sure to mention her not taking the pain meds.

Usually, when pain meds are taken they cause constipation, in which case my nurses recommended Safeway's Natural Vegetable Laxative (generic for Senokor; active ingredient Sennosides from senna concentrate) -- I mention this for lurkers and for if she starts to need the pain meds.

BTW, there are manual pill crushers available to grind meds for putting in feeding tubes (w/water) if she can't swallow, but always check w/pharmacist as some meds, esp time-release, shouldn't be ground. Safeway had pill crushers right by the counter.

http://www.cwimedical.com/pill_crush.html

The different options for the feeding tube seem to have widely different results for different people. I know that we had to experiment with a few different products to find one that worked (i.e. didn't cause nausea, diarrhea, etc). Is your grandmother being seen by a dietician/nutritionist? They are really good at helping to figure out a solution to these kinds of issues. The hospital where she is being treated should have one or more on staff - maybe you could look into that.

Best to you as you make your way through all of this. Your grandmother is lucky to have you!

Anita

Hi techie,

OK, lets see if this will help. Try using Boost, or carnation instant breakfast. You can also blend in a blender anything like soups and etc. So sorry to hear she is having problems. Make sure the Dr. knows about the diarrhea & get it stopped as soon as possible.

As far as pain, well she is lucky if she does not need anything. So lucky her.

Hope things will improve soon for her. It is a long journey.

Take Care,
Diane

hey techie, i'm 46, i've had a tube in me for two years, going on three. i use a liqued called Two-Cal HN. it has 475 calories per 8 oz can. i get it from apria healthcare. it starts out as a liqued, then hardens. i know this by spilling some. if you get a drop or two on your jeans, ten minutes later, it's hard. i have two cans per serving.when all this cancer set in (larnyx) i dropped down to 102 pounds. almost three years later i'm 165 pounds,(soaking wet).good luck God bless you and grandma. upstatesteve

You may want to keep trying the tube feeding for a few days longer. I also had diarrhea for the first few weeks but it got better as my system adjusted. I used the Walgreen brand food, cheaper and same calories and nutrition. Agreed with me more then the jevity did. Good luck.

It goes without saying -your grandmother is
INCREDIBLE--God love her! Amy in the Ozarks

Please if you are going to try to make your own blender concoctions, mix them so they are not too thick and have no lumps (putting them through a sieve or strainer helps)--you don't want to get her tube clogged.

Is there any chance she qualifies for prescription tube food like Jevity or the 2-cal HN that was mentioned? These foods tend to have fiber in them--with the Jevity (which has been my main form of sustenance for almost 2 years now) you can't see the fiber as it's being poured down, but if it contacts anything acidic (including both juices and stomach acid), these bits of fiber materialize. That fiber helps prevent the diarrhea.

Nelie

Teckie,

I did not have a tube but I used Carnation Instant Breakfast VHC...that's important VHC. It does not have fiber but it does have 560 nutritionally balanced calories in an 8 oz can and you don't need a prescription to get. You do have to order it through a pharmacy like Walgreens or CVS (or more expensive and more time consuming over the internet).