Description

Steve got his feeding tube “early.” We made the decision to have the procedure done before he needed it. The idea was to have it done under normal circumstances as opposed to an emergency surgery. We are glad we did. We had some complications, but it ended up fine.

They installed a standard feeding tube that had an eight-inch tube. This tube was intended to be permanent. However, Steve had it pulled out during a transfer at the airport. He had a new tube installed at the ER that had a balloon. This would be replaced with a MIC-KEY tube six months later during his standard replacement time.

Gastrostomy and PEG tubes

A gastrostomy, or G-tube, is a small, flexible tube that is placed through the abdominal skin into the stomach. One common type of G-tube is the percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. A gastrostomy, G-tube or PEG tube may be used if you:

• Have trouble swallowing or taking in enough nutrition by mouth
• Need decompression
• Have an abnormal narrowing in the esophagus
• Have an abnormal opening (fistula) between the esophagus (food pipe) and the trachea (air pipe)

Source: Feeding tubes — what you should know | Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center – Buffalo, NY