Pros and Cons of G Tubes

I get mixed reactions about Little Dude's G Tube.  Some people are happy he has it because it ensures that he's getting the nutrition he needs or just think it's really cool.  Others are horrified about it or sad that he has to have it at all.  Personally, I tend to waver between the two reactions so I put together a list of pros and cons.

Pros:

• Little Dude's not starving anymore!  Huge plus, obviously.
• I can feed him while he's sleeping.
• I can give meds through the tube and not have to worry about him spitting them back out.
• Cute tubie pads :)  I love accessorizing my kids with cute handmade things so when I found out that the tubie pads Little Dude needs to keep drainage from irritating his skin can be made in fun designs, I had some fun picking out cute ones for him.  I got his from Gotz GPadz on Facebook.

Little Dude modeling his Doctor Who tubie pad.

• A G Tube is much less stressful than an NG tube, in my opinion.  An NG tube (a tube that goes down the nose into the stomach) has to be taped to the face, can easily be pulled out, and is traumatic to replace.  Little Dude pulled his three times in the five days he had it while at the hospital and I knew there was no way we were leaving the hospital with it, especially with a curious toddler at home.

Little Dude with an NG tube at the hospital

Cons:

• Well, there's this tube going through a hole in my baby's stomach...not crazy about that.
• I worry about the tube coming out.  I don't even like to change my 6 year old's earrings, how am I going to put a G Tube back in?  If it comes out at home, taking him to the doctor to do it isn't an option because we have to drive 45 minutes to the closest doctor who can do that, and the stoma closes rapidly.  Thankfully, the chances of it popping out are actually pretty slim. 
• I spend a lot of time cleaning the extension tubes and syringes for feeding Little Dude.  You haven't lived until you've pushed soapy water through an extension tube only to have the other end fly up and shoot water all over like a runaway hose.  
• Granulation tissue (tissue that grows around the stoma to try to "heal" it) sucks.  I'm trying out a new product called GranuLotion to get rid of it right now, but usually Little Dude's granulation tissue has to be cauterized with silver nitrate sticks. 

 

For more information on feeding tubes, visit www.feedingtubeawareness.com