Peg tube clogged with Vitamin

[Janie H]

Hello All, this is my first post on here for my mother. She has a Peg (balloon) tube and we have not had much problems with clogging, plunging helped out the only other time it happened, and it worked well. Last night I was giving her vitamins, crushed and in warm water, and the vitamin d got stuck in the tube, I have plunged, used coke, and really warm water. She has no pain, she is still eating and drinking normally. We use the tube just to maintain hydration and to give vitamins. This morning when we woke up, the clog was still there, I put a little Pop in the tube and it seems to be working its way down to her stomach. Has anyone had this problem, will the vitamin work its way through, will the pop i put in help it. Will the reverse side of the tube help break up the vitamin. Anyone have any ideas, I am her main caregiver and want her well, but dont want to put her at any type of risk. Thank you

 

[zoohouse]

Yes the pop you put in will help, and the fact that it is moving is a very good sign. I am not experienced with PEG tubes but others with more experience will be along I am sure. I have mentioned before that we use coke to clear food that is stuck in esophagus in ER. Did it get stuck right away? If so I would think that it needed to be thinned more before injecting. If it happened later then you need to flush more afterwards.
Paulette

 

[ajrj]

Vitamins come in liquid form we found out after clogging my peg and having to get it replaced

 

[TGB1]

I just grind my mom's meds in a pill crusher and then put them into a small beaker with warm water and they dissolve almost completely. Then I pour them into the syringe and they go right thru the tube - have not had any clogs this way.

 

[Janie H]

Thank you all, I have bought a new pill crusher, not the one the nurse gave that is a syringe as well. This one will allow me to crush and disolve in one, looks great. Thank you all, my mother said you all were great, and I agree. I am a very lucky son to have her still here and well, I just cannot stand the thought of myself causing any discomfort to her at all. I will be back to let everyone know how it is fixed. Thanks again, and God Bless each of you!

 

[Janie H]

Updating everyone on my mother, who is awesome. Got to be more careful on the calcuim when crushing, clogs easily, and thats what the issue was. We had to get it changed, Mindy, my mother's nurse came to the house and changed her tubing out after we had to go the ER to get the old one out. She is doing great, and back up cleaning the house, lol. Thank you all for all your support and help. Each of you will be in our thoughts and prayers.