Well some much for things going pretty good. Seems things have finally hit Marvin. He has been extremly tired and not wanting to eat much. We started using his tube but the past two days we have been unlucky with it. Our first experence we thought this isnt to bad until we started to drive to indy for treatment about 15 mins after we got in the car it all came up.
Then today we spaced them out and thought we got it this time. Until the last Marvin had had about 1/2 a milk shake then about 1hr later we thought he could have some boost to work toward the goal of 7 cans those would have been 5&6. Guess we must have over done it because it all came back up. I am concered that his white blood cell count will drop because of these past to day, plus is water intake has also went down. I was wondering if we should only use the boost for food source and just drink water in between instead of trying to eat some and still take boost. Is there a way to know if you are doing okay if you say eat a small amount of food for one meal and leave off a can or 2 of boost?

Barb, how are you keeping your record of what Marvin takes in "in a 24 hr." period? Here is a suggestion.Establish his sleeping pattern and then start with the time of day he usually wakes up: ie: {6 a.m. or 7 a.m etc.]. Over the next 24 hr. period, look at the number of hours he will be awake virsus the number of calories and liquids he will need to take. Be sure to count every ounce of water he uses to flush the tube after meds or canned nutrition-those count as part of his goal for the day. [we would always flush the tube with 4 to 6 oz. water after using the tube] Smaller portions-spread out over a longer period- usually work better in the digestive system. The trick is to find a rhythm that works for his stomach. Remember , it's not breakfast, lunch or dinner anymore. Whatever works is best and you all need to experiment. STay strong. Amy in the Ozarks

Hi,

When we were trained to use the PEG, we were told to suck out the stomach contents and make a note of how much was retained...if there is too much, then we needed to wait to do any more tube feeding.
Just a thought because maybe if the stomach is too full it could cause vomitting if you are "overfilling">???? Note...they also told us to re-inject the stomach contents..yes..gross...but we were told by the oncology nurse that there are electolytes in the contents, so they need to be put back in..
Are other people doing this????

I didn't have a tube but I did kinda did the same thing Amy Oz talked about. I divided my "normal" waking hours by the number of "feedings" I had to accomplish, including water and for me that worked out to every 2 hrs. So every 2 hours I would alternate 6 oz water and then 6 oz "food". I didn't always keep to that schedule for obvious reasons but at least I mentally had a goal to keep. That's why I was happy to find Carnation VHC because it cut my food feedings down by 1/3 which meant more time in between feeding and that meant a lot to me.

Hilogirl, Your right, THAT'S GROSS but so are a lot of things we must endure with this crappy thing.

Hey, HiloG- yes, we did the "contents of the stomach" check also. BUT I need to add a note of caution to what you posted. In John's case, his stomach quit processing food during the final two weeks and we were measuring the contents to relieve the pressure and had to be very careful NOT to pull out too much at any time. When you have these kinds of responsibilities assigned to you, you really do need to have a good understanding of what you are doing and what it can effect. Mind bending sometimes! Amy in the Ozarks

I had a tube for months and didn't do the "check the contents" thing you speak of. I used to do it as a nurse to my tube fed patients, but never did it for myself, never felt the need.

Hmm, I was never taught to do that either! I was on the tube for 5 months. Had problems having it come back up during chemo cycles but none in between or after the four rounds of chemo. My advise would be to take smaller amounts more times a day. My caregiver was my RN husband who was big on "Let's take it slow and easy". I think it was because he didn't like to do all the laundry when I would rush it and get sick! :-) - Kris

Yesterday was not to bad. We got all 7 cans in and they stayed. But today has not started off so good. So I will go back to just the 1 can every few hours. Which Marvin would rather have it down only a few times but we must do what works. I try to keep him drinking some water by mouth though out the day.

Barb, don't forget to count the water used to flush the peg after feeding or meds-- it all ends up in his stomach as ounces consumed and can make him feel bloated. His stomach has probably shrunk and the capacity to hold large amounts at a given time is not there. Amy

The whole time I used the PEG during treatment and after while I was still on prescription pain meds, I had to do oe can at a time or it made me nauseated and would sometimes come back up (during treatment that may have also been ebcause of chemo and the amifostine which also made me rpetty nauseated). When I got off the pain meds and had my appetite back, I found I could do two cans at a time and eventually two cans and big glass of fruit or veg. juice at a time.

I had forgotten until reading about it above, but when I got the PEG, I was told to suck out and check stomach contents. I didn't do that much during treatment and completely forgot about it after that.

Nelie