Hey PEG, What’s for dinner?

  Thursday I got a PEG tube. This is a rubber tube that has a small portion that goes through your abdominal wall and a larger portion that stays outside for feeding. The internal part is installed by opening the abdomen with a small incision, passing through to the stomach. It is guided by an endoscope that they have run down you earlier. I was hoping to be out for all of this. But this was not to be. The first inkling I had that “everyting ain’t gawn be awreet” was the plastic thing they put in my mouth with a strap that went around my head. This is to keep you from biting the endoscope tube to stop it from being shoved down your throat. The next thing was when they strapped my hands to the side of the bed. That was probably a smart thing considering what came next.  The endoscope was then passed through the plastic thing in my mouth and down into my throat. All the while I was gagging they were saying “Just concentrate on your breathing”. Had I been able to talk there would have been quite a few expletives. Mercifully when it got into my stomach they said “Let’s give him a minute” and they finally dosed me with something to put me out.

 When I woke up I was back in the holding room with what felt like a gunshot to the stomach. The only other thing I can liken it to is possibly being kicked in the stomach by a mule.

  Friday I went back to the clinic to have it checked out. The Dr. took the dressing off and started to adjust the bumper. This is a round piece of plastic about the size of a fifty cent piece that sits against the skin to keep the tube from going inside you anymore than it is. To adjust this the Dr. must grab the tube with a pair of forceps while holding the bumper and push the tube through it. Now as simple as this sounds, and it really is, pushing and pulling on a fresh wound is not the thing you want to do. And just about the point where I was about to come up off of the bed and deck him, he was through. Then he redressed the wound and flushed the line. He also gave me some information that no one else had and that’s that the line needs to be flushed every day. I've found that information is something that you get from the least likely people that you would think would have it. And the people who should be giving it must think that they have already given it to you. I can only presume that with all the people that they see that it's hard to keep up with what they have told YOU.

When I start using this thing first you flush it with one syringe of water, then pour in x number of cans of supplement, and then flush it again with more water. The X will be determined by the nutrition clinic. We have actually gotten the supplement already and are waiting for the other supplies.

These supplements are how I will get the “food” to keep going. I’ll be on a 2600 calorie a day diet. I’m encouraged to eat as much as I can by mouth as I can while I can. And now the X factor has been figured out to be 5 ½ cans a day.

Wednesday the 26th, pull teeth