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ThisPresentMoment

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May 30, 2018
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124
Reason
Lost a loved one
Diagnosis
12/2017
Country
US
State
MN
City
Minneapolis
My Dad got his tube in early December. We've tried both gravity and now pump feeding. He is just not comfortable. He can't get down more than 3 cans a day without being miserable. We've tried the first 1.5 calorie formula, a higher 2.0 calorie formula, and a 1.5 with lower fiber.

We are getting tons of air out of his stomach. Using a syringe, I pulled at least three 60ml tubes of air out of his stomach this morning. (He felt sick and was having problems drawing a full breath.). It's not uncommon to pull two 60ml tubes of air out of his stomach 2-3 times a day.

Any ideas?
 
You may have already considered this, but many believe that corn syrup-based commercial formulas are hard on the GI tract. Air can be a consequence of this irritation. Try drinking some yourself if you haven't...

So some here blend "real food" for the tube themselves (essentially adding liquid to well, real food, and there are examples here and elsewhere if you search), and others use "more real" formulas like Kate Farms and Liquid Hope. Depending on your dad's insurance, one or the other may be reimbursable and each site has supporting documents/information for that.
 
Take the plunger out of the syringe and just 'burp' him. Don't point it towards your face or anyone, and do it as often as needed - before a feed and maybe half hour afterwards.
 
Tillie is spot on.
From my ALSinfo document:

Burping via G-Tube
It took me a year to learn of this trick! But I can’t blame anyone for that oversight; while in respite care for a week, I trained experienced RN’s how to do this.

Had I had this knowledge, I'd have avoided my first, 2a.m., panic attack.
• Pull the plunger out of a 60ml irrigation syringe
• Attach empty syringe barrel to G-Tube extension, keep above level of stoma
-> the above is the same as for bolus feeding
• Open extension tube clip
• Air should exit
◦ Gently press belly
◦ Move syringe barrel up and down, slowly​
• Close clip, remove syringe

Ya burped!!
 
We'll have to look not those other formulas. It looks like Kates Farm might be covered by insurance. Honestly, I hesitate to add the complexity of trying to make the food for his tube feeding. Thank you for the suggestion.

As far as burping, that's essentially what we're doing we're we're pulling the air out by the syringe full. We're just expediting it by pulling it out with the syringe, right?
 
As far as burping, that's essentially what we're doing we're we're pulling the air out by the syringe full. We're just expediting it by pulling it out with the syringe, right?
Well, actually, from my experience, you're both prolonging the process and making extra work for yourself.

Give it a try and use whichever works best for you.

There"s seldom one right way. :)
 
Is you Dad on bipap? My boyfriend had the same problem when his esophagus weakend and air was also pressed into his stomach instead of just his lungs. The bipap pumped him up like a balloon. He couldn't tolerate the inspiration pressure set at the clinic so we had to dial it down a little (which of course was problematic because the volume of each breath got smaller).

We burped the tube (pressing on the belly hurt him sometimes) or pulled the air out with a big syringe before every action. When pulling it out didn't work after one syringe full I flushed with some water (extra fluid) and then tried again. We finetuned the position to do this also. With the position of his tube it worked best when laying as flat as possible.
 
I also think you are just making it a hard task by using the syringe that way.

Let the burp come out all in one go rather than trying to 'extract' it. :)
 
I think we'll end up using both methods to burp the tube. It still seems like too much air. I'm also going to check into Kate's Farm. Good idea Wish, to change his body position. I hadn't though of that.
 
We call it “ Barping”. It’s not a fart and not a burp.

We just open it up point it in the sink and let it rip!
 
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