Feeding tube question

LeeinLondon · August 2011

Hello all;

Well, my JG tube incision is healing nicely, now it seems that the majority of the discomfort is from the sticky covering on my chest hair and skin; obviously I can shave it, etc. but it seems that skin irritation is inevitable with wearing something sticky on your chest. any tips? Do you leave your uncovered at all for comfort? I was thinking that maybe one of those elastic "security bandages" around my chest with a couple of sheets of gauze would give me adequate protection without the cursing of pulling my chest hair out each day.. thoughts?

waxing?

Donna70 · August 2011

being a woman no chest hair
Hi Lee,

I had the j tube and I put a lot of gauze pads on the tube site and then used paper non allergic tape surrounding it away from the site but did not have the hair problem. I had skin irritation from drainage, so put diaper rash cream around it and nystatin powder helped with soreness. Maybe one of the guys here can help about the hair problem. take care and keep trucking!!
Donna70

hopper52 · August 2011

Donna70 said:
being a woman no chest hair
Hi Lee,

I had the j tube and I put a lot of gauze pads on the tube site and then used paper non allergic tape surrounding it away from the site but did not have the hair problem. I had skin irritation from drainage, so put diaper rash cream around it and nystatin powder helped with soreness. Maybe one of the guys here can help about the hair problem. take care and keep trucking!!
Donna70

Mexican Hairless?
Lee,

Your post about the hair problem brought to mind a joke I heard years ago.

Young lady wanted to get her boyfriend a birthday present. He had always wanted a Mexican Hairless so she hopped on her little 50cc motorbike and headed to the pet store where they only had a limited selection of puppies. She ended up buying a schnauzer and then rode to the drug store and asked the clerk if he had any Nair or Neet, that stuff that removes hair.

"Ma'am, I do have that but let me warn you, it irritates the skin and if you put it on under your arms, you can't wear a tight fitting blouse for a few days."

She replied, "Oh no, it's not for my armpits."

He said, "Well, if you put it on your legs, you won't be able to wear pantyhose for a couple of days."

"I don't think you understand," she said. " I need it for my schnauzer."

He said, "Lady, if you put it on that, you won't be riding that Honda for a week."

cher76 · August 2011

Lee, glad to hear it is
Lee, glad to hear it is healing nicely. Rickie also has a very hairy body, so when the initial bandages were put on we would cut a piece of rectangular gauze up to the middle and then slip it under the tube so the gauze would lay flat against his body. Then we taped the edges. Luckily we only had to do that for about a week. Once the insertion site was fairly healed, bandages came off and all he does is put a piece of tape about 3inches long perpendicular to the tube to hold it down and to protect it from getting accidently pulled out. He used a soft fabric tape. He does shave that area of his belly just so he doesn't have to deal with the hair issue. We have also been shaving parts of his back in order to get his pain patch to stick. It's become a problem though because he has sensitive skin and when we take the patch off after three days his skin is irritated there so we have to move to another spot. Anyone with any suggestions for that? We have been going through patches like crazy lately because he refuses to stay out of the south Texas heat, and once he starts to perspire the patch comes lose and falls off. We have thought about waxing, but wondered if that would cause more irritation. Has anyone else tried waxing?
Cheryl

paul61 · August 2011

Shaving was a three step process
Lee,

I used an electric razor to shave the area around where the adhesive tape would go. For a while shaving in the morning became a three step process; first my face, and then the area around where my chemo port was, and the area around where my j-tube was. Not having hair there made bandage removal much less traumatic.

However, as others have stated, once the area around my j-tube incision healed I no longer had a dressing on it. I did tape the tube against my abdomen so it did not get caught in my clothing (doing that will help you invent some new words!!!) but the actual incision just required daily cleaning once it had healed.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
McCormick, South Carolina

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
6/21/2010 CT Scan NED
3/14/2011 CT Scan NED

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

LeeinLondon · August 2011

paul61 said:
Shaving was a three step process
Lee,

I used an electric razor to shave the area around where the adhesive tape would go. For a while shaving in the morning became a three step process; first my face, and then the area around where my chemo port was, and the area around where my j-tube was. Not having hair there made bandage removal much less traumatic.

However, as others have stated, once the area around my j-tube incision healed I no longer had a dressing on it. I did tape the tube against my abdomen so it did not get caught in my clothing (doing that will help you invent some new words!!!) but the actual incision just required daily cleaning once it had healed.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
McCormick, South Carolina

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
6/21/2010 CT Scan NED
3/14/2011 CT Scan NED

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

Great!
Thank you everyone, and for the laughs! It's good to know that I can back off on everything being wrapped up tight shortly; none of the nurses seem to know much about this, and I pictured being taped up (and miserable!) every day forever.

Now a pain question. Sometime if I'm just lying or sitting comfortably with no pain whatsoever, not feeding, I will get surges of pain in the incision from about a 2 to a 5, rising like someone turning a volume control then back down again. Did you experience this early on? When does it end? The dr. assured me that everything is ok with the tube but it's disconcerting.

chemosmoker · August 2011

cher76 said:
Lee, glad to hear it is
Lee, glad to hear it is healing nicely. Rickie also has a very hairy body, so when the initial bandages were put on we would cut a piece of rectangular gauze up to the middle and then slip it under the tube so the gauze would lay flat against his body. Then we taped the edges. Luckily we only had to do that for about a week. Once the insertion site was fairly healed, bandages came off and all he does is put a piece of tape about 3inches long perpendicular to the tube to hold it down and to protect it from getting accidently pulled out. He used a soft fabric tape. He does shave that area of his belly just so he doesn't have to deal with the hair issue. We have also been shaving parts of his back in order to get his pain patch to stick. It's become a problem though because he has sensitive skin and when we take the patch off after three days his skin is irritated there so we have to move to another spot. Anyone with any suggestions for that? We have been going through patches like crazy lately because he refuses to stay out of the south Texas heat, and once he starts to perspire the patch comes lose and falls off. We have thought about waxing, but wondered if that would cause more irritation. Has anyone else tried waxing?
Cheryl

Keeping the PATCH on...
Cheryl,
While I was wearing the Fentanyl patch, I had the SAME problem. I was able to shave or clean the area (it says NOT to use alcohol or shave as it can release more meds than is required, but I had to and didn't have issues) and apply a new patch with CLEAR or CLOTH FLEXIBLE medical adhesive tape around all four edges (the edges of those patches are the most important site contact area, not the center-this was helpful top know too) and that worked to keep the patch on despite my heavy sweating and sun exposure issues. This came from advice from our pharmacist. The DR. (not my current) didn't even bother to tell us that they can take 24-48 hours to start working, and it was sheer luck that we still had oral pain meds when I went home with nothing else, thinking they would work in a hour like the XR pain pills! THAT was a bad night!
I also had the same issue with the area being red and very irritated each time it came off. I started to run out of new places to put the darn things in the end as I had lost so much body fat and since that's how they work, it was a challenge to find an area with enough BMI to even work!
Hope this helps and good luck.
May God bless you with a peaceful and calm filled Sunday.
-Eric

chemosmoker · August 2011

LeeinLondon said:
Great!
Thank you everyone, and for the laughs! It's good to know that I can back off on everything being wrapped up tight shortly; none of the nurses seem to know much about this, and I pictured being taped up (and miserable!) every day forever.

Now a pain question. Sometime if I'm just lying or sitting comfortably with no pain whatsoever, not feeding, I will get surges of pain in the incision from about a 2 to a 5, rising like someone turning a volume control then back down again. Did you experience this early on? When does it end? The dr. assured me that everything is ok with the tube but it's disconcerting.

Pump up the volume...
Lee,
I hope others with a J-Tube will post shortly and advise you as this is indirect, BUT, when I had my defibrillator implanted in 2007, the incision was about the same as far as depth and the leads went in at a depth deeper than the tubes. While I was under for the procedure and awoke to some pain and required IV meds, when I went home, it was at a 2-3 and I felt okay.
A day later, I was having the EXACT same type of pain you are describing, sudden, while sitting still, and it would increase and was sharp, I would have said 4-7 depending, rarely a 7, but it did peak like you describe, and not because I was doing anything or touching/moving the site at all. It took pain pills and patience and it DID pass. I panicked of course. I called my cardiologist and he said that is perfectly normal, as the incision had cut through nerve endings and more than just skin. Also the muscle was irritated in the area as well.
He was right, and it did pass. He just gave me the usual "if it gets worse or doesn't subside, come in to the office or ER." Never had to.
I hope this might help. Nerves are a touchy thing, no pun intended.
I hope you feel better and can get the nutrition and weight gain that we all seek, and without pain soon.
Hoping you have a Blessed Sunday and are as pain-free and breathing calm.
-Eric

TerryV · August 2011

LeeinLondon said:
Great!
Thank you everyone, and for the laughs! It's good to know that I can back off on everything being wrapped up tight shortly; none of the nurses seem to know much about this, and I pictured being taped up (and miserable!) every day forever.

Now a pain question. Sometime if I'm just lying or sitting comfortably with no pain whatsoever, not feeding, I will get surges of pain in the incision from about a 2 to a 5, rising like someone turning a volume control then back down again. Did you experience this early on? When does it end? The dr. assured me that everything is ok with the tube but it's disconcerting.

Nick calls them "bee stings"
He had those early on as well. Seems like they subsided greatly after a few weeks. He does still get the occasional "pinch" but that's usually after a coughing spell or a bump to the tube.

Nick has taken to shaving his belly hair and uses a low adhesive bandaid to secure the tube. Others are correct - you WILL invent new words if you happen to snag that durn thing on clothing or bed sheets.

Hope all is well for you today.

Terry
wife of Nick, Stage 3

Feeding tube question

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