Tiny spots inside upper peg tube

Hal61
Hal61 Member Posts: 655
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Hi, I've delveloped a few very tiny spots in the upper section of my peg tube. Not many, but they seemed to appear after one feeding. They are about the size of poppy seeds, and same color. Also not very many, but I'm wondering if anyone has seen this. They never go down and stick below the pressure shut off when I flush, but seem to persist in the upper area. I'm not sure if they are tiny bits, pitting, or what. Don't seem to be growing or doing any harm. ?

thanks, Hal

Comments

  • ratface
    ratface Member Posts: 1,337 Member
    #2
    Pressure shutoff?
    Hi Hal

    I never had a pressure shutoff. Sounds pretty fancy. The tube will stain whatever color your eating. what did you put down it? Anyway have you tried flushing with coke or any carbonated crap? Or have you tried backflushing. just stand over the sink and open it up and let it drain some. or very carefully stick something down there, some folks have used coat hangers and fishing line to unclog tubes. Maybe you could scrub them away. Make sure its not growing and these tubes generally have a life cycle of around two years.
  • Hal61
    Hal61 Member Posts: 655
    #3
    ratface said:

    Pressure shutoff?
    Hi Hal

    I never had a pressure shutoff. Sounds pretty fancy. The tube will stain whatever color your eating. what did you put down it? Anyway have you tried flushing with coke or any carbonated crap? Or have you tried backflushing. just stand over the sink and open it up and let it drain some. or very carefully stick something down there, some folks have used coat hangers and fishing line to unclog tubes. Maybe you could scrub them away. Make sure its not growing and these tubes generally have a life cycle of around two years.

    Tube Advice
    Thanks RatFace, and thanks for all your posts, I always appreciate them. The "shutoff" valve is im sure the same one you or anyone with a PEG has. It just crimps the line where you position it along the line, not allowing liquid food to flow down from the gravity bag making a smelly gooey pond on the rug, twice. I'll try the some carbonated crap next. It's no big deal, I just wanted to see if it was a common thing that might lead to more trouble. Thanks too for the timeline on the the tube.

    Hal
  • Landranger25
    Landranger25 Member Posts: 210 Member
    #4
    Hal61 said:

    Tube Advice
    Thanks RatFace, and thanks for all your posts, I always appreciate them. The "shutoff" valve is im sure the same one you or anyone with a PEG has. It just crimps the line where you position it along the line, not allowing liquid food to flow down from the gravity bag making a smelly gooey pond on the rug, twice. I'll try the some carbonated crap next. It's no big deal, I just wanted to see if it was a common thing that might lead to more trouble. Thanks too for the timeline on the the tube.

    Hal

    Tube gunk
    My tube always seemed to have gunk in it even though I flushed it every day. I had no gravity bag just a box of giant syringes that I would fill and inject through the tube. After the "food" went through I would squirt water in to chase. This routine maybe 8 times per day. My PEG was pretty problem free the whole time I had it, about 4-5 months I guess. Carbonated beverage sounds like a great idea. Good luck.

    Mike
  • Hal61
    Hal61 Member Posts: 655
    #5
    Landranger25 said:

    Tube gunk
    My tube always seemed to have gunk in it even though I flushed it every day. I had no gravity bag just a box of giant syringes that I would fill and inject through the tube. After the "food" went through I would squirt water in to chase. This routine maybe 8 times per day. My PEG was pretty problem free the whole time I had it, about 4-5 months I guess. Carbonated beverage sounds like a great idea. Good luck.

    Mike

    Good to hear from you Mike
    Hi Mike, thanks for the reply, and thanks for posting. I've been thinking about you and am glad to see you back on the board. Hope all is going well for you and your family. Nice looking fish!

    I took the line-in fitting off the top of my peg tube, and rubbed at a few of the spots on the inside with a clothes hanger--like Rick suggested--and they didn't budge, so maybe it's just a few pits. I'll try some ginger ale, then just forget it as long as it doesn't change. Everything's clear above and below, so good enough. Yeah, with the bags I just have to do 3-4 feeds per day as they will get a can and a half plus a few ounces of water. I guess that's about what I can digest in 3-4 hours according to the nutritionist. The bags work great though, especially since the nutritionist from my med group told me to add the three ounces of water to the bag each time. I get it all going, sit down and look at TV or the computer, look up, and it's empty, really goes pretty fast.

    I salute all of you who are doing this without the tube. I got mine in the weekend before I started treatment, and wouldn't want to do without it. Though, for those that choose not to, it can obviously be done without.
  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    #6
    Hal61 said:

    Good to hear from you Mike
    Hi Mike, thanks for the reply, and thanks for posting. I've been thinking about you and am glad to see you back on the board. Hope all is going well for you and your family. Nice looking fish!

    I took the line-in fitting off the top of my peg tube, and rubbed at a few of the spots on the inside with a clothes hanger--like Rick suggested--and they didn't budge, so maybe it's just a few pits. I'll try some ginger ale, then just forget it as long as it doesn't change. Everything's clear above and below, so good enough. Yeah, with the bags I just have to do 3-4 feeds per day as they will get a can and a half plus a few ounces of water. I guess that's about what I can digest in 3-4 hours according to the nutritionist. The bags work great though, especially since the nutritionist from my med group told me to add the three ounces of water to the bag each time. I get it all going, sit down and look at TV or the computer, look up, and it's empty, really goes pretty fast.

    I salute all of you who are doing this without the tube. I got mine in the weekend before I started treatment, and wouldn't want to do without it. Though, for those that choose not to, it can obviously be done without.

    the bag thing
    Like Mike- got no bag. Poured the formula into the tube via a large syringe tube. Not sure about the bag thing. Used mine for all my nutrition for some 7-8 weeks a year ago, and without a hitch. And not that much of a hassle, as the bag thing seems to be. Was as simple as 1-open the PEG/2-Pour in the formula/3-close the PEG. Never took more than 10-minutes to get done. I can't help but wonder if this isn't another example of the medical community playing around with us/Patients, trying this or that which may or may not be a better way, and not really having a clue as to being in our shoes. You might wanna talk to your Surgeon about another type of PEG, Hal.

    Hal61- I always have a little liquid showing at the base of my tube, but that's always been the case, except for when I first get-up in the morning. Had my PEG for over 14-months, now, and that's the way it's always been- even before I started using it with formula.

    We, Hal, who have had the tube- I doubt any of us can truly regret it. Mine is a pain-in-the-keyster, now, and I have not used it for almost a year. There were a couple months in time, Hal, that it was my lifeline, and I got no regrets- then, or now. Onco told me I had no option on whether or not to get it installed, with the treatment they had planned for me. What followed is a blessing: YOU GOTTA GET THE NUTRITION IN YOU TO GIVE YOUR BODY THE AMMO TO FIGHT THE FIGHT.

    Excellent thread, Hal. Keep with the fight, my friend, and...

    Believe

    kcass
  • Glenna M
    Glenna M Member Posts: 1,576
    #7
    Similar problem
    Hi Hal,

    I had a similar problem when I was using my tube, "stuff" would collect near the "pressure shut off". My solution was to slide the shut off further up the tube and gently squeeze the tube back and forth between my fingers while it was filled with water. Squeezing and rolling the tube between my fingers seemed to loosen the "stuff" and allow it to flow through the tube with the water as I continued to flush it. When my tube was clean I would slide the shut off back to its original position.

    Hope this helps.
    Glenna
  • Landranger25
    Landranger25 Member Posts: 210 Member
    #8
    Glenna M said:

    Similar problem
    Hi Hal,

    I had a similar problem when I was using my tube, "stuff" would collect near the "pressure shut off". My solution was to slide the shut off further up the tube and gently squeeze the tube back and forth between my fingers while it was filled with water. Squeezing and rolling the tube between my fingers seemed to loosen the "stuff" and allow it to flow through the tube with the water as I continued to flush it. When my tube was clean I would slide the shut off back to its original position.

    Hope this helps.
    Glenna

    Thank-you
    Thanks for the shout out Hal. Still been on here most days, just not commenting if I feel I cannot add to the topic. So many supportive and strong people on here I am amazed. Although all of us never celebrated personal or family accomplishments or carried each other through times of sorrow and crisis in person, we come together here as strangers in support of each other because we are all on the same journey. Thank-you all. Take care Hal and good luck. I will be following and thinking of you as I do all who post here.

    Mike

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