Feeding Tubes

As I mentioned, Isabella has just started having issues eating and drinking.  Since we are really concerned about dehydration (more so than the eating), we had a feeding tube inserted in her today.  There are two types of feeding tubes, one that is placed through the nose that goes down the esophagus and into the stomach.  The second type is inserted through the abdomen and connects directly to the stomach.  The latter requires surgery and we didn’t want to put Isabella through anesthesia and another surgery, so we opted for the one through the nose, otherwise known as an NG-tube.

The other good use of the NG-tube is that we can push supplements and medication through it.  Isabella has been swallowing up to 15 pills at one time and that has been increasingly more difficult as she’s had problems swallowing.  Now, we can mix  the medication in some liquid and push it through the tube directly into her stomach.

It’s not pretty, but it serves the purpose of getting liquids and supplements into Isabella.  We hear that after a day or so, the kids get used to having a tube running through their nose.  Isabella rarely complains about anything, but she does say that the tube feels weird.  The other good thing about the NG-tube is that we can remove it at anytime should we decide that it’s too uncomfortable or not worth the effort.