Learning what to blend, how to blend, and how to feed my Beauty was a process. And, like most processes, there were some epic failures. I think we would finally say we've got this now. However, our textured ceiling in our dining room will forever hold the marks of our mistakes, as do some of our walls, and an original painting.
Lesson one: Things that don't get blended all the way.
First of all, almost any food will blend well, if there is enough liquid in the blend. I can tell within ten seconds if I need to add more at this point. If there are still quite a few pieces of food, or chunks that aren't blended, you more than likely need more liquid. I can usually just add about an ounce of water, scrape everything back together, and blend it a second time.
Blackberries are my arch nemesis. Occasionally they will do great, but most of the time, those seeds get stuck in the tube when I'm pushing the blend, and I have to unclog it over and over while I'm feeding her. We usually just stay away from them. We don't have problems with kiwi, or raspberries, but for whatever reason, blackberry seeds make us more work than is worth it.
Cooked grains are another point of contention. We have found that if we have a meal with rice, or regular quinoa (as opposed to the flakes, that are more like oatmeal), and sometimes even pasta (we use gluten free-so it is made from brown rice) the items need to be overcooked in order to blend well. Anything less, and you will be stuck with little hard bits of grain stuck in the end of the tube. It works out fine for us because the husband and oldest daughter prefer soggy grains, and I'm indifferent really. If you are an al dente type of family, you may need to cook grains seperately, or cook the portion being blended longer.
Lesson two: Syringes that suck....er don't suck.
We get catheter tip syringes through our medical supply company. Our insurance pays for us to get one a day. In theory, the syringes should be able to be used multiple times. However, we have found that one or two times is about all we get out of these. We have tried many different things to make them last longer. What ends up happening for us, is they are impossible to suck food up into, or, once it's in there, and you are attempting to get the air out, it won't push out. When it finally gives, it's with incredible force, shooting food in whatever direction the tip is pointed. The other issues we have with them is that the large black rubber piece that's supposed to help the plunger part glide back and forth easily, will come off while sucking food up. Then you end up with a mess trying to get all of the food back out of the syringe so it isn't wasted, and starting with a new syringe.
Even when these syringes are 'working' after the first time, it takes my small framed self quite a bit of physical exertion to feed my child. That seems a little silly, and more than what most people really want to deal with in the wake of taking on a new type of feeding.
We have found a better syringe. They have what's referred to as an o-ring, instead of the large rubber piece, for the plunger. These can be used multiple times, are easy both to suck food up, and push it through the tube, and have never shot food all over our house. The only downside, we have to purchase them ourselves. We think it's well worth the money to have them on hand. We also haven't had any of them go bad yet.
Lesson three: There are different types of extension tubes.
It's very possible every other person dealing with a g-tube knows and understands this. I did not. Our Beauty is on quite a few meds. When she got her first tube, it was a low-profile peg tube. Unlike the Mic-Key or the Mini-One, the extension tubes did not lock in. I hated it for this reason. It came with three types of tubes. One had a med-port and a right angle where it connected to the g-tube, one was a right angle decompression tube, and the third one was a short tube that went straight in. I thought the third tube was mostly just annoying. We opted to use the tubes with med-ports because she was getting meds at every feed during that time period.
Fast forward to our change over to blenderized diet. At this point we had switched to a Mini-one, non-balloon. So we only had two types of tubes, and the only kind we ever got were the ones with the med-port. I had no idea what the other tubes were for, other than to make it really hard to give my child her meds.
Turns out, if you are pushing a feed through, and you have to use force for any reason, the med ports give before the food will go through. So once again, I have food shooting out, and onto some surface nearby. I learned, as a result, that the straight tubes are called 'bolus tubes.' They are meant to do bolus (or fast and all at once) feeds, and work about 1000% better for a blended feed in our house. The meds took some time getting used to still, but we have figured out how to push the med, and clamp the tube quickly so that it doesn't come back out at us. And we have transferred the majority of her meds to being during her night time bolus of milk, and then water a few hours later-because we use a med-port tube for these feeds.
Lesson four: Getting unstuck.
No matter how great the blend is, the tube is, and the syringe is, you will more than likely still deal with a clog in the tube at some point. I have made lots of mistakes with these. I ended up with blended food in my eyes one time as a result, and consequently had to crawl to the kitchen and flush my eyes in order to reconvene my day.
My suggestion, if you are pushing, and the syringe won't go any more, pull back a little. IF food comes back some, you can try pushing again. I usually do this a couple of times. If that doesn't work, unhook the extension from the g-tube, get a clean syringe, and flush with water, in the sink, pushing and pulling until it flows freely again. Then you can restart your feeding. If the syringe still doesn't work, you can try a toothpick in the end to get whatever is stuck, unstuck, or you can let the tube soak in some hot water and pull out a clean extension to finish the feed. We have never had to throw a tube away from a clog, but there have definitely been words uttered under my breath from them.
Do you have any lessons you have learned that might help others?
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