My first feeding tube
- Jan 28
- 2 min read
It was the begining of 2023, and we were back living in Indiana. My GI in Indiana, still convinced I had nothing wrong more than IBS and an eating disorder, decides my weight and nutritional levels determined by blood work were dangerously low, and he admitted me into the hospital to receive fluids and figure out nutrition. They started out with a NG tube which was extremely uncomfortable and still made me very sick. They removed it and took me to surgery to install a Peg-G tube. I still could not tolerate the feeds. At this point they finally listened to my husband and I that the reason these tubes aren't working are because they are going to my stomach, which is the same problem that I have with food. They took me back to surgery and installed a Peg-J tube. I was finally released from the hospital when I could finally increase my rate to about half of what they originally told me I needed to be at. I used this tube for about 6 months lugging it with me to work, and soccer practices and everywhere I went, because I was on 24hr feeds. I started to gain weight and was feeling so much better. The tube was taking a toll on my mental health and my ability to do things I wanted to be able to do, so I asked the GI if we could remove it and he agreed to it. At this point, I still was not able to eat food without immense pain, sickness, and vomiting, so I am not sure why I thought removing the tube, that was serving its purpose was a good idea, but hey the doctor agreed to it also. It did not take long for everyone around me to notice that my weight was again starting to drop and I was again becoming malnourished. I played it off, and continued the constant battle of forcing yourself to eat, just to make yourself sick and in pain. This went on, and my health declined until June of 2024. This is the point where my and my families world's literally flipped upside down.
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