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James and his NG Tube


It took us (mom and dad) a month (and thousands of pesos later) of going to and from the hospital to have James' NGT (nasogastric tube) inserted in the ER before we mustered the courage to attempt learning how to insert the scary 24 inch tube into James' nose straight to his stomach. 


Notice Daddy and Mommy's MacGyverisms:

-- clipping the hard round core of a roll of electrical tape to the wall so that the 60cc syringe can be hanged instead of tying up hands that are also pouring the formula during feeding


-- using the rubber part of medicine droppers to cover the exposed end of the tube instead of taping it closed after every feeding


-- making use of safety pins to attach the coiled tube to James' shirt so it doesn't get caught (and pulled!) in anything when he's moving a lot


Trivias:

-- James used NGTs for feeding from Feb 2002 to June 2005. We didn't know (none of our doctors told us until we consulted a new gastroenterologist in Jan 2005!) that in the US, the standard recommendation for the tube's use is only 3 months maximum due to the dangers of infection. Blessedly, aside from frequent vomiting spells (tube "tickles" the throat when patient swallows ergo the urge to throw up) James' didn't develop any serious complications.


-- NGTs must be secured by leukoplast tapes to James' nose and cheek so it won't be pulled out easily. He usually cried when we had to remove an old tube :( We had to replace tubes every two weeks so Daddy buys the tubes, gloves and lubricating jelly in Bambang in bulk to save money.


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