Button, Button, Who's got the Button - 09-05-2011 03:12 PM
Well, it's not me, sad to say. After two and half years of dithering over switching to a button, I bit the bullet and was supposed to get one last Thursday. I had hesitated all this time because of my CCC doctor's warnings that my pill crushing, blenderized diet dinners, doing happy hour right after Jevity 1.5 on weekends (wine causes Jevity to fall out of suspension and clump up immediately into a gooey mess) all put me at risk of clogging or breaking the anti-reflux valve in the button. Plus the button needs to be changed every three months before the balloon bursts or leaks while the tube's buttons lasts 5 months.
But all the OCF posters who have switched have loved it and I've found OCF advice post cancer advice more reliable than my CCC doctors.
Just like last time, the balloon deflated entirely on Wednesday, the day before my scheduled change of tubes - right in the middle of Yoga class. Even I was somewhat embarrassed to have to clutch my tube as it started to fall out, push it back in and race out to my locker to tape it in place until Thursday,
But when I'm stretched out on the Interventional Radiology surgery table, they discover the special order button has a shaft too small by one centimeter. Since I needed a tube then and there, once again a tube goes in.
(Tubes don't need special sizes, you just slip them in until they fit- the buttons have a pre cut shaft that must fit exactly into the stoma, no longer, no shorter).
Turns out all those crunches and ab work added that extra cm onto my abdominal wall since I was measured last year. I certainly didn't add any weight or fat although I could use a few more pounds so I could technically be a Welterweight boxer. Oh, well, there is no valve to worry about so I guess I can enjoy Happy hour this Labor Day. I will raise my glass to all my OCF family
Charm
But all the OCF posters who have switched have loved it and I've found OCF advice post cancer advice more reliable than my CCC doctors.
Just like last time, the balloon deflated entirely on Wednesday, the day before my scheduled change of tubes - right in the middle of Yoga class. Even I was somewhat embarrassed to have to clutch my tube as it started to fall out, push it back in and race out to my locker to tape it in place until Thursday,
But when I'm stretched out on the Interventional Radiology surgery table, they discover the special order button has a shaft too small by one centimeter. Since I needed a tube then and there, once again a tube goes in.
(Tubes don't need special sizes, you just slip them in until they fit- the buttons have a pre cut shaft that must fit exactly into the stoma, no longer, no shorter).
Turns out all those crunches and ab work added that extra cm onto my abdominal wall since I was measured last year. I certainly didn't add any weight or fat although I could use a few more pounds so I could technically be a Welterweight boxer. Oh, well, there is no valve to worry about so I guess I can enjoy Happy hour this Labor Day. I will raise my glass to all my OCF family
Charm