PEG Tube-Need advice for 1 day road trip

Status
Not open for further replies.

COlisa

Distinguished member
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Messages
121
Hi All,
Dave had his PEG "installed" on Monday and he is doing great. Uses it for all his meals now. Anyway, he wants to go watch our 15 year old son play in his very first lacrosse match ever tomorrow (just a scrimmage...but still!) but the match is about 75 miles away.

We will be away from home for at least one "meal". My plan was to take water and syringe for the flushing steps and pre-prepare the formula at home in a gravity drip bag, and put it in the cooler in the car. At mealtime we can sit in the car and do the meal, hanging the gravity bag from hook on the ceiling of the car.

Does anyone else have a better way to do this? Any tips or tricks for road trips with a PEG?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us.
Lisa
 
That sounds like a good way to do it. I used to use a 60 mil syringe with the plunger out so it was like a funnel. Just open the can and pour it in. This saves having to clean bags. too.
 
Thanks Joel. Do you find that the syringe method is fast enough or is it pretty slow? Seems like a long time to hold up a syringe vs. just hanging up the bag.

Thanks!
Lisa
 
It is much faster, you have to be careful holding it up to high or you can get it too quickly. Holding it low slows it down. I never used the bags as they were to slow.
 
Hi Lisa and Joel;
The method that I use both at home and on the road is to use the syringe with the plunger. This has been recommended by a couple of different dieticians who work with ALS patients. It's fast (they recommend 15 to 45 minutes), easy, and there's very little to carry or clean up. The method is: Using a 60ml plastic syringe with a tip that mates with the peg tube you flush the tube with two fillings (2 x 60ml) of clean water, pump in however much formula you should be taking (in my case that's 4 x 60ml), then flush the tube with two more fillings of clean water. Go slowly and make sure to hold the both the tube and the syringe together and kink and cap the tube after each syringe or you'll have a mess. Pop the syringe into a clean ziplock bag, rinse out the containers and you're done! No messy bags, nothing hanging up or having to be held up, no muss, no fuss. All you need is clean water, formula , a big, wide mouth water glass or container to draw each from and a syringe. When you get back home wash the containers as normal, pop the two halves of the syringe apart and wash them with a little mild dish soap, rinse them well and let them air dry on a tea towel.

I've only had my peg for two weeks and this is by far the quickest and easiest method. I just finished a four day road trip and it worked great for me. Also, you can just pump in some water if you're thirsty, a bonus if you're a sloppy drinker like me!

Hope you and Dave have fun at the game!

Barry
 
Using the syringe as a funnel it always took me less than 10 minutes.

No secondary container was required, just pour the water and formula directly in.

I was told the same things as you Barry, but over time I developed my own way of doing things. LOL
 
Joel; I'll try it out, it does sound easy and fast. Thanks for the tip!
 
Thanks! The nutritionist warned us off of trying to do a feeding too fast and recommended 30 - 40 minutes for 2 cans of formula using drip bag. Don't want to give him an upset tummy by putting stuff through too fast, but sounds like syringe is the way to go for road trips.

BTW, Dave wanted to use the syringe all along and i was convinced that gravity bag was the way to go. Glad I asked the experts here ;).

THANK YOU!
Lisa
 
Be careful at first, some people can handle feeding fast and others can't so trial-and-error needs to happen to see what he can tolerate, good luck!

Oh, and don't tell your nutritionist! LoL.
 
I do what Joel does, use the syringe as a funnel. What I do is tape the syringe to the side of
a heavy coffee mug and set that on top of a phone book on the table. This gets the syringe
at a comfortable height and stable. I attach my PEG to it, and in my office where I really don't
want to spill, I tape the PEG tubing to the table. First I flush with water and then I pour in the
liquid. The pace is about right for my stomach. End with a water flush abd I'm done. This way
I can feed myself without assistance as I still have enough control in my arms to manage it.
I sit and have dinner with the wife and kids this way, them chomping and me pouring.
Best
Dan
 
Thanks! This place is the best for getting all the tips and tricks to make things easier.

Much appreciated.
Lisa
 
Hey guys, we have a new forum for tricks and tips.

AL.
 
Hi Joel; I just tried the open syringe method and it was quite a bit easier than what I was doing when I was drawing the water and formula up into the syringe and then pumping it in. I guess the only time that I'll be doing that now is if I'm in the car as it's a little less obvious (as if I care anymore).
Thanks again,
Barry
 
Not there yet but as far as feeding to fast could you do like a baby and feed (pour) so many oz's then wait? If you are talking 45 mins say 1/2 can wait ten min or so then more. An open can would spoil that quick then wait to open another one.
 
That's great Barry!

"Less obvious" - who cares! LOL

Georgia, you do what ever works.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top