This is my Mum's third feeding tube!!! She now has a G J tube that was working just fine but now despite constant suction from they G tube she is leaking bile from the incision site which has never healed. the incision area is becoming fire read from the bile even though i am cleaning it constantly to keep her dry.

What causes this excessive bile? My Mum has stage 4 oral cancer and is on her 6th round of chemo. She has responded well and the tumors have shrunk down to almost nothing.

We were feeding her Jevity 1.2 but it made her sick so now i am giving her 1 can of Jevity 1.2 along with Green Machine and additional caloric and nutritional supplements.

Any suggestions for the bile leakage?
Thanks!
Suzanne

Suzanne, I have a few pointers that might help your mom. It could be the wrong size PEG tube. Some PEg users on here have had different sized tubes. Have you asked her doctor about the leakage? Reddness means its probably infected and awfully sore.

When I had my PEg tube, I would put antibiotic cream like bacitracin ointment around the tube site after a shower. The I would cover it with gauze pads. There are specially made gauze pads with a slit 1/2 way thru them and a tiny hole for the tube to fit into.

Watering down the feeding formula will help your mother digest it more easily. I have never heard of Green Machine, dont know what it is at all. Its very very important to give your mother minimum 2500 calorie and 48oz water daily.

Be very careful with supliments, check with the doctor as some do not mix well with chemo.

The redness may just be irritation -- Ask your Docs if it might make sense to replace her current PEG with one of the low-profile ones (They move around less and cause less irritation) like a Mic-Key Button:

http://www.mic-key.com/index.asp?page=product

or a Bard:

http://www.bardaccess.com/feed-button.php

Here's a quote from a post in a cystic fibrosis group:

"The Bard is considered a one-step button proceedure. It is placed during surgery which avoids the peg healing step. They haven't talkled about the Bard because you have already have a peg. The other benefit of getting a bard is the low profile. The bard button has a closure like a beach ball. They stay in place with a small sponge inside the stomach wall. My boys both got Bards when they had the gtube put in. The problem with a Bard is that you can't replace it easily if you have a problem. Josh had his replaced twice. Once because the tab broke off and once because he had grown and it was pulling against his ab wall. Jess has had his for 5 years with no problem at all. One bad thing about the bard is that the tubing doesn't lock in place so it sometimes gets disconnected during feeding (huge mess). We just tape the connection now.

This last time Josh had his button replaced he chose a mic-key instead so it will be easier to replace next time. The mic-key stays in place with a balloon inflated with water. The tube for the water and a lock-in closure for the extention tubing make the button itself a little larger. Both good features though."