ok I am going to give in and use the PEG

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sharon 1
sharon 1 Member Posts: 50
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

So I am not getting enough water or food in me and have decided to use the peg for a while and see how it goes. I do not remember exactly howto use it tho. I want to just use the bolus(sp) method but do you push the boost down or just let it drip? Do you dilute it? I feel kind of ignorant because its been so long since its been implanted. Can anyone help me?

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  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #2
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    PEG 101

     

    Sharon,

    For me it was 2 cans of Jevity (no dilute), hang ‘em high and let them drip.  I flushed the PEG before and after.

    Even when I was using the PEG I kept drinking 1 meal-a-day and multiple glasses of water.   You need to keep swallowing.

    Matt

     

  • lornal
    lornal Member Posts: 428
    #3
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    bolus

    When I used the syringe, I just let it drip down.  Afterwards, I would flush with water, and would use the plunger - in order to be sure the tube is cleared out.

    I also used the plunger when putting meds though it..

     

    Good luck

     

    Lorna 2007 & 2014

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #4
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    I just filled the syringe...

    held it up, and let the Boost drip in .  It goes pretty fast.  I did dilute it a little bit with whole milk so it would go faster :)....I didn't have much patience with feeding time.  Be sure to follow every feeding with a couple syringe fulls of water to clear it out. 

    p

  • thennies61
    thennies61 Member Posts: 285
    #5
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    phrannie51 said:

    I just filled the syringe...

    held it up, and let the Boost drip in .  It goes pretty fast.  I did dilute it a little bit with whole milk so it would go faster :)....I didn't have much patience with feeding time.  Be sure to follow every feeding with a couple syringe fulls of water to clear it out. 

    p

    I also used the suringe and

    I also used the suringe and worked great .used two cans 3-4 times a day along with the flushing plus extra water..

     

  • sharon 1
    sharon 1 Member Posts: 50
    #6
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    thennies61 said:

    I also used the suringe and

    I also used the suringe and worked great .used two cans 3-4 times a day along with the flushing plus extra water..

     

    feeding

    Well that went ok! I feel a bit bloated but wow was that fast.

  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    #7
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    sharon 1 said:

    feeding

    Well that went ok! I feel a bit bloated but wow was that fast.

    Good to hear.......... :)

    That's good to hear. I only had the NG tube in the nose and then it went past my stomach to the intestines. Had to do 150 cc then a 60ccflush. Did not do well. They wanted 280cc and I got sick on 150 so I said no. At first it was right out of the frig. and I asked it it could warm up to room temp, that cold really felt bad. It was only going to be for six to 12 days so no peg for me. So glad that went well. Now you can stay hydrated but remember you still need to swallow. It doesn't take long to forget how to do it. In only six days I had to learn again and that first one was scarry.

    Bill

  • lornal
    lornal Member Posts: 428
    #8
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    sharon 1 said:

    feeding

    Well that went ok! I feel a bit bloated but wow was that fast.

    water flush

    When you flush w/ water, you might find it more comfortable to use warm water.  When I had a PEG, I could "feel" the cold water, and didn't like it at all.  If i had refrigerated formula, I mixed it with room temperature formula.

    I had the PEG severa months before my last surgery, and after my surgery it was a few weeks before I could do it myself.  I had to remind the nurses to use the warm water.

    Lorna

     

    PS about a month after my laryngectomy, I was able to start eating again - and I haven't stopped!

     

  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #9
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    PEG - so glad it's there when you need it.

    What everyone else said.  You can use the syringe to slow the flow, if the drip method went too fast.  Alternatively, only drip a half a can at a time to avoid the bloat.

    Deb

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,771 Member
    #10
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    drink water

    No matter what you do, make sure to force a glass of water down the throat every day. You must keep your swallow muscles working or they will forget how to swallow.

  • jackflash22
    jackflash22 Member Posts: 524 Member
    #11
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    Peg feeding

    I've been a PEG  tube feeder for a year. I can't swallow so all my food goes through the tube. It's great to get the formulas down quickly but be warned if you continue to feed fast, over time you can develop Dumping Syndrome. It's when the food goes through the intestines too quickly, the stomach swells and you get painful gas and diarrhoea after the feed. I have it and it's not pleasant, I can't get back to normal and suffer gas every day which doubles me up.  i have  terrible noises as everything whizzes  through my system like gurgling and rumbling just like a drain. Not everyone will get this but it's best to feed slowly, you can slow down by holding the syringes without plunger lower and putting just a little in the syringe at a time. It takes me an hour and half to get two formula bottles down. I Have a short break between bottles.

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #12
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    sharon 1 said:

    feeding

    Well that went ok! I feel a bit bloated but wow was that fast.

    Hi Sharon

    Glad to see you and Peggy are filially getting to know each other. I use a 60cc syringe and I can normally eat 3 cups of food at one time plus a glass of water. The problem you need to watch is bending over, sometime if I need to bend over to do some work it comes up, just something I have learned to live with.

     

    Tim Hondo   

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #13
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    jackflash22 said:

    Peg feeding

    I've been a PEG  tube feeder for a year. I can't swallow so all my food goes through the tube. It's great to get the formulas down quickly but be warned if you continue to feed fast, over time you can develop Dumping Syndrome. It's when the food goes through the intestines too quickly, the stomach swells and you get painful gas and diarrhoea after the feed. I have it and it's not pleasant, I can't get back to normal and suffer gas every day which doubles me up.  i have  terrible noises as everything whizzes  through my system like gurgling and rumbling just like a drain. Not everyone will get this but it's best to feed slowly, you can slow down by holding the syringes without plunger lower and putting just a little in the syringe at a time. It takes me an hour and half to get two formula bottles down. I Have a short break between bottles.

    Gas

     

    I too hate that but worse is when I am getting hungry and the gas starts to blow out of the side of the PEG through the stoma. It can get very loud and if someone does not know that I have a PEG they will think I am farting.    I hold my head up high and say PEG Tube, most people don’t even know what I am talking about, but I do care, it is life and a part of my life I live everyday.

     

    Tim Hondo   

  • jackflash22
    jackflash22 Member Posts: 524 Member
    #14
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    Hondo said:

    Gas

     

    I too hate that but worse is when I am getting hungry and the gas starts to blow out of the side of the PEG through the stoma. It can get very loud and if someone does not know that I have a PEG they will think I am farting.    I hold my head up high and say PEG Tube, most people don’t even know what I am talking about, but I do care, it is life and a part of my life I live everyday.

     

    Tim Hondo   

    Good laugh

    needed a good laugh you conjured up a picture in my mind like a cartoon of a jet of air shooting out of your belly. Didn't think it would sound like a rude noise  but I love it. Put your rude noises with my drain noises we could have a music contract in no time. Maybe call it Hondos Water Music. Get it.....Handles Water Music. Boom Boom. 

  • jackflash22
    jackflash22 Member Posts: 524 Member
    #15
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    jackflash22 said:

    Peg feeding

    I've been a PEG  tube feeder for a year. I can't swallow so all my food goes through the tube. It's great to get the formulas down quickly but be warned if you continue to feed fast, over time you can develop Dumping Syndrome. It's when the food goes through the intestines too quickly, the stomach swells and you get painful gas and diarrhoea after the feed. I have it and it's not pleasant, I can't get back to normal and suffer gas every day which doubles me up.  i have  terrible noises as everything whizzes  through my system like gurgling and rumbling just like a drain. Not everyone will get this but it's best to feed slowly, you can slow down by holding the syringes without plunger lower and putting just a little in the syringe at a time. It takes me an hour and half to get two formula bottles down. I Have a short break between bottles.

    Dumping syndrome

    if anybody wants to read about this on the web, put (dumping syndrome with peg tube feeding) and quite a lot of articles come Up. There may be some on the site with similar symptoms and blame the type of formula as I did. High sugar intake doesnt help as it causes changes in the stages of digestion. Some fruit is high in sugar. I can't remember if this is mentioned in the ' Thread'.

  • longtime
    longtime Member Posts: 8
    #16
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    peg

    I'm sure this will be quite outrageous to many or all. I used to nurse long term patients, and every one of them that had permanent pegs lingured for years and begged me to just pull the tube and let them die. Of course I couldn't, but I decided then that if it ever came to my having to have one, I'd just let nauture take it's course. I've only had patients who had to totally depend on it for the rest of their lives. Please let me know if it's as bad for you, having one.

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #17
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    longtime said:

    peg

    I'm sure this will be quite outrageous to many or all. I used to nurse long term patients, and every one of them that had permanent pegs lingured for years and begged me to just pull the tube and let them die. Of course I couldn't, but I decided then that if it ever came to my having to have one, I'd just let nauture take it's course. I've only had patients who had to totally depend on it for the rest of their lives. Please let me know if it's as bad for you, having one.

    Hi Longtime

     

    I have it all in my living will so that when I am at that stage in my life what I want my family to do. This will help to make it easy for them, I am not afraid of death because I know where I am going. Welcome to CSN H&N

     

    Hondo

  • thennies61
    thennies61 Member Posts: 285
    #18
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    sharon 1 said:

    feeding

    Well that went ok! I feel a bit bloated but wow was that fast.

    Was really glad that put it

    Was really glad that put it in as I couldn't eat anything anyway after surgery.Started to eat alittle until the rads kicked in and then glad again.Wanted it out after but they wouldn't take it out until after rads and first tests and as I started to gain weight again from eating he smiled and pulled it out..

  • sharon 1
    sharon 1 Member Posts: 50
    #19
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    longtime said:

    peg

    I'm sure this will be quite outrageous to many or all. I used to nurse long term patients, and every one of them that had permanent pegs lingured for years and begged me to just pull the tube and let them die. Of course I couldn't, but I decided then that if it ever came to my having to have one, I'd just let nauture take it's course. I've only had patients who had to totally depend on it for the rest of their lives. Please let me know if it's as bad for you, having one.

    Peg

    Longtime, had I not started using this peg, I am afraid that I would be in REAL trouble as I cant eat a lot of foods right now other than soups and the water is unbearable. The taste is just awful although I am trying to swollow at least 1 or more per day. The rest I put in my peg. I admit that I am still trying different amounts to put in and what works best as far as bloat, but I am glad that I have it

  • AndrewP16nose
    AndrewP16nose Member Posts: 23 Member
    #20
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    sharon 1 said:

    Peg

    Longtime, had I not started using this peg, I am afraid that I would be in REAL trouble as I cant eat a lot of foods right now other than soups and the water is unbearable. The taste is just awful although I am trying to swollow at least 1 or more per day. The rest I put in my peg. I admit that I am still trying different amounts to put in and what works best as far as bloat, but I am glad that I have it

    it's not a give in

    I didn't get my PEG inserted until 2 weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy had made me dehydrated and malnorished. I lost 10pounds in 2 weeks and was in a terrible state. I'm now 3 weeks post treatment and still almost exclusively PEG feeding. I can swallow liquids but have lost taste and smell. I know some day I'll get back to eating but as so grateful for the PEG. Using it is not giving in, it's necessity for a while

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #21
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    AndrewP16nose said:

    it's not a give in

    I didn't get my PEG inserted until 2 weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy had made me dehydrated and malnorished. I lost 10pounds in 2 weeks and was in a terrible state. I'm now 3 weeks post treatment and still almost exclusively PEG feeding. I can swallow liquids but have lost taste and smell. I know some day I'll get back to eating but as so grateful for the PEG. Using it is not giving in, it's necessity for a while

    Hi Andrew

    Welcome to CSN H&N, you are right it will all come back to your new normal and life will be just as good after. I have lived to see all my grandchildren come into this world, just when I think it is all over I find that there is another on the way. It has been a blessing to me to be here and a part of their life.

     

    Hondo

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