Feeding tube?

Hard12Find
Hard12Find Member Posts: 218 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My feeding tube was placed 8 days ago, and I am still getting some sharp pain around it, mostly on the left side. The night they placed it I had dry heaves and felt like I pulled a stitch. Did anyone else experience this or am I being a baby?
I kind of think it is at least mildly infected, so went to have it checked today, they pulled the bottom stitch a couple days early, and took a culture, put me on broad spectrum antibiotics, easier to clean now at least.

Comments

  • nick770
    nick770 Member Posts: 195
    #2
    Mine was very painful the
    Mine was very painful the night they put it in. And is still at times bothersome, hopefully the antibiotics help.
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #3
    Antibiotics, eeeeek!
    Please be careful with the antibiotics! The most common one used for skin infections will also make you incredibly light sensitive.... and your radiation treatments will seriously burn your skin!

    I had my tube put in, about mid way into my radiation treatments. After a couple of days, my skin had reddened around the wound, so they started me on an antibiotic in case it was an infection. (It may have been Cipro, I forget.)

    I took my first antibiotic on a Friday afternoon, after my radiation treatment. No rads on Saturday or Sunday, so this was apparently all some weird kind of "afterburn.." Be that as it may, when I showed up for my radiation treatment early on Monday morning, they threw me out. They said I suddenly had second-degree burns in all the areas being radiated, and on the Friday before, I had been fine. They told me one more treatment would put me at the third-degree burn level and all my skin would slough off.

    I was told to go home and take a week off from treatments. I was horrified. Also, I was convinced that the week-long hiatus was going to adversely affect the outcome of my treatment, but it apparently did not. I immediately ceased taking the antibiotic and by the end of the week I was well enough to go on.

    I was a bit taken aback that it hadn't occurred to the doctors that something like this could possibly happen. They know now, at least the ones that treated me.

    Deb
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #4
    Maybe try a mixture of Saline solution and peroxide??
    put on with a Q-tip....I did that with mine for a couple of weeks after having it put in....My hurt like hell for the first 3 or 4 days....so bad that the surgeon who put in my port had them do a CT scan on my belly...she also is the one who actually got me pain killers for it.

    You are NOT being a baby...it the thing hurts, let the Dr. or one of nurses look it over, it's not easy to see all around the hole, and the skin can get infected around the puncture...only another person can check it out and determine if a stitch got pulled or if you're starting an infection....(mine JUST got infected in the last 2 weeks...only around the hole like a pierced ear might get infected. I started using Antibiotic cream, applied with a Q-tip and the pain susided within a couple hours....nice quick heal)

    p
  • Tim6003
    Tim6003 Member Posts: 1,514 Member
    #5
    phrannie51 said:

    Maybe try a mixture of Saline solution and peroxide??
    put on with a Q-tip....I did that with mine for a couple of weeks after having it put in....My hurt like hell for the first 3 or 4 days....so bad that the surgeon who put in my port had them do a CT scan on my belly...she also is the one who actually got me pain killers for it.

    You are NOT being a baby...it the thing hurts, let the Dr. or one of nurses look it over, it's not easy to see all around the hole, and the skin can get infected around the puncture...only another person can check it out and determine if a stitch got pulled or if you're starting an infection....(mine JUST got infected in the last 2 weeks...only around the hole like a pierced ear might get infected. I started using Antibiotic cream, applied with a Q-tip and the pain susided within a couple hours....nice quick heal)

    p

    Mine was painful...
    ..the first four days...and I did throw up / dry heave the first two days.....everyone is different ...it was much more painful going in than coming out :)

    Tim

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