Feeding Tube Awareness and Education

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Let’s talk venting and draining G-tubes!If someone has a G-tube or a GJ tube, that means that their feeding tube gives t...
03/05/2025

Let’s talk venting and draining G-tubes!

If someone has a G-tube or a GJ tube, that means that their feeding tube gives them access to their stomach.

G-tubes or the G portion of a GJ tube- can also used for venting and draining stomach contents. Venting and draining can help with symptoms of bloating (releasing extra air), nausea and stomach contents. Venting the feeding tube is typically done with a syringe, and draining a feeding tube can be done by either connecting a drainage bag to the extension of the tube and letting gravity do the work, or manually using a syringe to pull out the stomach contents.

Typically you are instructed by your doctor or gastroenterologist as to when the right time to vent or drain would be, and if that is appropriate given your situation.

For example - In my particular situation, I am receiving all of my nutrition through the J portion of my GJ tube, bypassing my stomach (the problem area). I am highly encouraged to vent and drain from the G portion as needed for symptom relief, as well as engaging in what is called “pleasure/comfort feeding”.

Pleasure feeding is engaging in eating/drinking to have a sense of normalcy in social settings or whenever I want! This allows me to engage in eating certain things of my choice that I will be able to drain the contents of after eating- so I won’t have to experience severe pain, nausea, vomiting.. etc

As much as I wish I could eat and drink without getting extremely sick and dealing with severe side effects, I am so grateful that I am able to engage and enjoy social situations surrounding food without having to pay for it. This may be NEW news and bring even more of an understanding to my own family and friends circle!

Yes, this takes a little bit of planning and you have to be fairly cautious on the choices of food, as not everything drains easily from the stomach and you may have to work at it manually with a syringe. Depending on the quantity of what you’ve eaten or drink, it may take a little while to drain, but otherwise it can be fairly quick and simple. I carry around extra syringes in all of my purses and backpacks so that I’m prepared on the go - as I don’t always remember or have a drainage bag on me.

As always, if anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to send me a direct message or comment below. Hoping to make some more informative posts with real demonstrations, tips and tricks in the very near future. 💓

•Feeding Tube Care•It can be so overwhelming knowing what products to use when first getting a feeding tube. When I firs...
01/17/2024

•Feeding Tube Care•

It can be so overwhelming knowing what products to use when first getting a feeding tube. When I first got my GJ tube I asked around the community and found I was getting SO many different suggestions which confused me even further. Everyone has their preferences in products but I found the simpler I kept it the easier it was.

To this day my surgeon compliments my tube site and I want to share my favourite products for feeding tube care!

• Saline- I use this on q-tips or gauze to clean around my tube site daily! Make sure to dry the site well after or let air dry.

• Calmoseptine Ointment- This is one of the BEST ointments that can be used as a barrier cream around the stoma. It's very thick so a little goes a long way! I suggest applying on a q-tip around the site and apply a split gauze to avoid the cream getting all over clothing.

• Silver Nitrate- Granulation tissue is very common with tubes and can be very painful and irritating. I DO NOT recommend using these if you have not been given instruction by your doctor/surgeon or have not been shown how to use them. If you're having constant issues with granulation tissue silver nitrate is commonly used to burn the tissue/kill it. You can get silver nitrate sticks over the counter at most pharmacies, but they usually have to order them in unless your doctor/surgeon gives you some or writes you a script. There are also other options available for treating granulation tissue such as an ointment called Granulotion, or you can make a concoction yourself at home using Alum (found in the spice aisle) and mix with a small amount of Calmoseptine ointment and apply around the site.

• Split Gauze- Highly recommend non-woven 2x2 split gauze. Split gauze holds around the tube site much better than cutting plain gauze down the middle. Highly recommend DuSoft brand-available in many different sizes. Non woven is much better than the stringy non-sterile generic cotton gauze!

• Q-Tips- I go through q-tips like crazy for cleaning around my tube site and applying creams. Super inexpensive as well.

As always, if you have any feeding tube questions don’t hesitate to send me a direct message! ♥️

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