National Eating Disorders Awareness Month!
First off, welcome to NEDA Month! (National Eating Disorders Awareness)
Now, Welcome to Feeding Tube Awareness Week of 2023!
There’s many resasons to where a person might require the assistance of a feeding tube. I can not attest to every reason why; only my own experience and knowledge of them as an EMT. Everyone’s story is different of why they’ve acquired the need of them, i do not speak for all.
There’s different placements of that feeding tube as well. If you’re suffering from SMAS, Gastroparesis, Eating Disorders, Anatomic Abnormalities or Dysphagia etc. I wont go too in depth of the medical and anatomy of things, ill give some basic information and leave some for you to research and look up on your own. Or feel free to privately message me if you want more info. Some are temporary (NG & NJ) and the others are more long term permenant (G-tubes). Placements can include NG (Naso-Gastric), NJ (Naso-Jejunum), which are the less invasive ways; and then G-tube (Gastronomy), GJ (Gastric Jejunum). The G-tube can be placed 3 different ways: surgically through a small incisions using a laparoscope, surgically using a larger incision, or endoscopically using a scope into the stomach to create the stoma from the inside (these are usually PEG tubes) .
(My Pictures at the end of my post show the PEG tube, G-tube placements)
I have had NG tubes and Gtubes, more specifically PEG tubes which means they surgicallly had to cut the my stomach muscles creating the stoma to place the tube.
TAKING CARE OF THE TUBE PLACEMENT SITE IS VITAL!!!
Keeping your dressings CLEAN, DRY, and STERILE is so pertinent because your at such a high risk of getting an infection at the site because its literally an open wound and open access into your body for bacteria and viruses! I know on amazon a ton us “tubies” would order cute little gtube pad coverings that would easy the pressure of the plastic leaning into our skin and helping with the secretions. They come in many different character decorations or designs
There’s an example, but yeah. Also, as painful as it sounds just like a ear piercing the G-tube needs to be spun daily, yeah i know, FML! Then, you’re probably wondering what happens after you’re done feeding or probably first how to do the feeds and such and such. You can get a machine to set to do you feeds like i said im not going to get to technical in this post im going to keep it basic, but there’s machines we can hook up at home to our IV poles ( yes, we get our own IV poles! We name and decorate them, too!) Or you can do it manually and have essentially this big syringe (without the needle part) and plunge it through the tube that way! I’ve had both. With the NG tubes ive had the machine with the G-tubes i’ve had the syringe and was more in control of how often i fed myself and how much. Where do you get the feeds? It’s liquid nutrition depending on what your body can process/digest and if its through your stomach or jejunum; Kate Farms, Ensure, Boost, blah blah, etc. its usually managed by a dietician and covered by your insurance and has to be stored properly out of sunlight, refrigerated, sterile place and stuff. It has to be properly set up to.
FLUSHING YOUR TUBE!
VITAL! VITAL! VITAL! you can actually get mold in there if its not flushed properly or it can clog!! Flushing is basically just another word for cleaning it out which is basically just pushing water through it before and after feeds, when you wake up and after medicine pushes (if you dont have separate tubings for it) Like i said not getting too technincal. Having A feeding tube requires a lot of up-keep and care and is not something to neglect. For NG & NJ tubes you have to change them quite often and you can change them yourself and its pretty easy, as it is also pretty easy to throw them up as well and misplace if you dont do it correctly you cant feel very bloated and nauseous. So if you’re struggling with purging an NG/NJ tube isn’t really the route to go.. Although as painful as it sounds it is quite easy to accidentally pull out a g-tube.
HEALING
It takes (well for me) after surgery 2 weeks for the pain to subside, pain meds are given Percocets, Hydrocodone, whatever. I was given those but didnt take them because they didnt help, and i have a high pain tolerance and my psychotic ass enjoyed being sore and in pain. After around 2–3 weeks i was able to lay on my stomach accidentally yank it, or get it stuck/caught around things in my room or house while walking ( i still wore half shirts & tube tops.) i wasnt phased at all. Just keeping your dressing changed OFTEN, CLEAN, and DRY is key!
REMOVAL!!
The G-tubes, they just yank the bitch out!! IM NOT LYING!!! HAHA!! i wish i fucking was.. They dont put you to sleep, they dont warn you on 3, they just tell you dont eat for 24 hours so its not a messy pull!
AND
OH
MY
GOSSHH!
The SENSATION is the most indescribable feeling ever!! Each time i can NEVER fucking prepare for that bitch! Its not painful it’s like a nauseating pressure then, pressure release like an exhale,uhm, i dont fucking know but i yell “FUCK shit” every, single time! Every, damn time. Then the fact the my G.I. doctor wanted to let a new med student practice on me on taking it out, and me being an EMT student once before and having to work at Moreno Valley hospital and be trained, i guess karma was coming full fucking circle. I was hella up to it, i didnt mind helping student watch or learn but my g.i. doctor kept telling him to do it in one pull! It it kinda looked like this nervous mofo was pissin his pants. Nah, he did it one try (thank gosh, it was my 3rd G-tube anyway) It still felt weird as fuck!
MY STORY/REASONS WHY I UTILIZE FEEDING TUBES:
I struggle with Anorexia Nervosa and ARFID and have since the age of 8 years old i was diagnosed with Gastroparesis at the age of 19, and due to my OCD, AFRID and severe Anxiety and Panic Disorder i developed dysphagia at the age of 16 when i choked on carrots while in Eating Disorder treatment and then proceed to aspirate them and have an asthma attack. To this day i dont eat carrots and wont touch them with a 10-ft pole in fear of i will choke on them and die. I’m not allergic i’m just deathly afraid of them.. I wont cook with them either.
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a new diagnosis in the DSM-5, and was previously referred to as “Selective Eating Disorder.” ARFID is similar to anorexia in that both disorders involve limitations in the amount and/or types of food consumed, but unlike anorexia, ARFID does not involve any distress about body shape or size, or fears of fatness.
Although many children go through phases of picky or selective eating, a person with ARFID does not consume enough calories to grow and develop properly and, in adults, to maintain basic body function.
Types of ARFID
- Lack of interest: clients with this type of ARFID have a genuine lack of interest in eating and food. They also get full quickly.
- Sensory Avoidance: clients with sensory avoidance have issues with food tastes, textures, temperature and smells.
- Fear of Aversive Consequences; fear of illness, choking, nausea and allergies
Dysphagia is difficulty swallowing — taking more time and effort to move food or liquid from your mouth to your stomach. Dysphagia can be painful. In some cases, swallowing is impossible. Ive had dye testing/swallow testing done to where it shows my muscle would spasm or sometimes not respond at all if im highly anxious or on edge.
Gastroparesis is a condition that affects the normal spontaneous movement of the muscles (motility) in your stomach. Ordinarily, strong muscular contractions propel food through your digestive tract. But if you have gastroparesis, your stomach’s motility is slowed down or doesn’t work at all, preventing your stomach from emptying properly. In my case, part of my stomach is paralyzed since i used to use bottles of ipecac syrup to induce vomiting, along diet pills, laxatives, and i would OD on handfuls of my psych meds at a time. My stomach lining couldn’t take all the acid and accrued many gastric ulcers until i was finally diagnosed.
An Anorexia, which im sure most of my readers are well aware of what that is and my struggle with not eating and restricting my food intake including my liquid intake. I was forced into hospital and placed on a NG tube for not eating solid food for 17 days. Or when I was hospitalized in Loma Linda mental hospital when i didn’t drink water (or any drop of liquid) for 9 days and got sent to the hospital and found out i had damaged my left kidney and it was only functioning at 73%.
Due to these comorbid health and psych conditions my body is always at greater risk and chance of needing the help of a feeding tube. There’s no shame in it and Feeding tubes has helped a ton of my friends and friends babies' live and to continue to have fulfilling, joyous, and functional lives just as any other person! If the tube is noticeable or unnoticeable it doesn’t matter.
Your worth is immeasurable.
Love and Support,
Eves ❤
