Hello again, my husbands vomiting and pain are better but he needs more nutrition, he's down 35 lbs, can still take some water and gatorade by mouth; but he's lethargic. Is overnight feeding with the bag a good idea or just several bags throughout the day? I asked the oncol nurse and she said the home health nurse would help with that, I ask the home health nurse and she said to just do what the doctor says? I assume he will have to build up his intake. Any suggesstions?

Does he have a Kangaroo pump? If he has a PEG tube, there is a machine called a Kangaroo pump that either insurace will pay for monthly or you can rent (ours is $600.00 a month)that you can connect to his feeding tube (and use a lot of tape so it doesnt come out)and it will dispence a few drops every few seconds into his stomach.
My fiancee, Charlie, couldnt keep a thing down due to his mucus, but the pump alows him to digest the Ensure or Boost before he gets sick. He has lost 15 lbs. It is, however a long process- 4 cans can take anywhere from 10-12 hours to pump- so doing this while he sleeps will ease this anxietyf or him. I know how much Charlie just wants to throw the pump away, but as thier support, we just have to keep on pushing and encourging!

If he uses the pump overnight, make sure he is partly upright (lots of pillows). The overnight slow drip worked well for my husband...then he could just forget about it during the day.

Best,
Anita

We eventually had to feed through the port as my husband could not handle any kind of Kangaroo type feeding either.
This is very expensive but ... it worked.
We would attach it around 9pm and it would slowly drip until 7am . As Anita said, he would be surrounded by lots of pillows to keep him partially upright.
Grab one of these nurses and make them pay attention ... the oncology clinic can order all this for you.
He needs the nutrition and you need the Docs to tell you the best way for him to get it.

Best Wishes
Marica

Hi Everyone! What is the difference between a port and a PEG? Does the port go thru the blood? Thanks!

Deborah - when my husband was having the most trouble with the combined chemo/radiation (about the last 3 weeks and first 2 weeks post treatment) the nightly feeding by pump was very helpful. It allowed him to keep food down when the feeding by gravity bags began to be too fast and made him sick to his stomach.

As others have said, it is important to have him sitting partially upright, although in my husband's case he was doing that before the nightly feedings anyway because there was too much choking on the thick mucous if he was lying down.

The pump makes some soft noise that I was able to block out by wearing ear plugs and I slept better overall because I wasn't so worried about him not getting enough nutrition.

Mary

Erik just started using the pump at night and it has made a huge difference, in how he feels in the morning. Less vomiting in the AM, and he isnt waking all night feeling stomach pains (hunger) Then during the day, he isnt tied to the pump all day long, he can give a few boluses of food a day and he is good to go.
I cover the pump with a blanket so I dont hear it at night. The only problem we have found with it is that it beeps when it runs dry, and that seems to be around 6:00 in the morning, I have just started putting another can of food in it when I get up in the middle of the night.(bathroom run)