PEG tube replacement

[ECpara]

This may sound crazy but my husband will be getting his seventh PEG tube replacement tomorrow. He had a tube initially put in at Duke (Nov 2012) and I think it was supposed to stay in, as in forever. But Mayo in Jan 2014 suggested it was getting old (it did look nasty) and they replaced it. He had to go back because they didn't put the first replacement in properly. Then he got a bleeding ulcer (not related) and our local hospital replaced it again. That was just last February. Since then he has had to go to the ER twice because the bulb deflated and the tube came out. Bleeding and soreness always preceded it coming out - we went to his gastro guy both times, they said it was nothing and gave him something for the bleeding. Lo and behold both times the ER ended up having to take care of it. Well, it's doing it again. This time when we see the gastro guy we are going to demand a new tube on the spot. The last place Tom needs to be is in the emergency room in the winter with all the germs. Wish us luck tomorrow. Anyone else have this problem? Tom does his own feedings, do you think he's pushing the syringe too hard or something?

 

[affected]

No tube stays in forever. They are inside the digestive system, so they degrade, and Tom's first tube was in a very long time!

Do you know if the first tube had a balloon behind it? The balloon type definitely do accidentally come out more easily, but that doesn't mean they should fall out often. The bulb should not deflate, but it can happen very occasionally, but they can also be checked by Tom and inflated. There isn't any chance Tom is accidentally deflating the balloon?

Pushing a meal in by syringe has nothing to do with the balloon, so you can rest easy on that point.

I would have a really good talk with the gastro. Wishing you luck

 

[Gembead]

All the very best for your visit to the Gastro guy.
Love Gem

 

[ECpara]

Thanks Tillie and Gem. Yeah, Tom's first tube had a disc that held it in place. That stumped the doctors at Mayo, they weren't familiar with it. That "replacement" ended with coming back to Mayo and having that disc removed. They had left it in! That's probably the only complaint I've ever had with this otherwise wonderful hospital. Tom's neuro is the one who figured it out and had him come back in. When these bulbs have deflated they are actually busted (and disgusting). So we'll find out tomorrow if this is happening again. I guess I can't complain. These PEG tubes, no matter how many, have saved his life. He stopped eating and drinking over a year ago. Thank God for PEG tubes!