David has had peg tube since April no problems I clean it 2 tinme a day(use Qtip and Johnson and Johnson antiseptice wash)...No problem suddenly last week inbetween feedng it is accumulating some dried brown residue. no yello puss or anything. Now also some blod on outside.

Any one had this. He say it does not hurt...Skin is not inflammed...is this just normal?

T, this was normal for us. It started happening as John lost weight and the tube got looser at the insertion point. There has been some previous discussion about this, but John's Doc told him to ALWAYS have a drain gauze between his tube and his stomach.We cleaned several times a day like you are doing, and always had a pad on. His tube site never got infected, but did ooze, especially when he slept on his side. Amy in the Ozarks

I found that every morning there was some slight seepage of usually brown yucky stuff that had dried on my stomach for the most part. Some days/nights were worse than others and I would always tape a gauze pad in place right below the insertion point so I could get out during the day as necessary. That would keep any seepage from soaking through the front of my shirt. My docs/nurses advised that such was normal and not to freak out.

Bill D.

Thanks Jam and William for your reply...He does lay on his side and it is worse then when he wakes up. He has lost more wieght even though he is getting about 4 cans of the Carnation VHC (560 calories) a can. He had lost 32 pounds up to 2 weeks ago.

Again this forum is so great thank you all!!!

David could use more calories at this stage of his recovery. At one month post Tx I was drinking 6 cans of VHC a day and eating whatever solid food I could tolerate like mashed potatoes w/ gravey, fruit cocktail, mac n cheese, etc and I kept on adding solid foods and loosing a can of VHC while maintaining the calories but I didn't gain a pound until my 8 month post Tx.

He has been trying to take food by mouth but it gets caught in his throat and then he chokes then ther is bleeding. It is still extremely raw. I feed him about every 2.5 hours 1/2 cup at a time. He gets really bloated and feels full if we try anymore than that. The is 4-6 ounces of water at each feeding also so he does not get dehydrated.

He has tried..Yogurt Jello, cream of wheat, pudding...All soft and smooth. He has even tried (reluctantly because it is not real food) Baby food. Like applesaudce but it still burned really bad.

Everyday thought he try's something again at least of tablespoon or 2.

We have followup with RO tomorrow and am gonna talk to Karen about rinse that numbs throat only last 10 or 15 minutes but then maybe he can get more dow. by mouth. WE are one month post Radiation.

Babyfood isn't real food? Gee that's news to me, it's given me quite a few good calories worth of fruits and vegetables that I don't have to cook down to a consistency I can eat, as I would have to do otherwise. In all seriousness, I can understand the psycholigcal barrier around this but if you have to eat you have to eat. He will get better and be able to eat more but sometimes it is slow going.....

Nelie