The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well…
Feed your Tubie, Tubie, Tubie, fed your Tubie…. On October 27th was the day I jumped in with both feet and stopped the formula and started blending Briggs’ food. Did you know the first ingredients in formula are types of syrup? (brown rice, canola, soybean oils) and currently commercial formulas used for tube- fed people are over 50% sugar! Did you know there is no color in the formula? It’s white! Do you think ingesting this all day long is going to have an impact on your skin color and your gut health? Did you know formula contains synthetic vitamins and it contributes to gut issues by having limited ingredients and lacking enzymes that are found in fresh food. Did you know there is a lot of ingredients that cause inflammation?
Proof!
This is Briggs 9 days apart! 9 days!! The picture on the left is him on formula, continuously having the pump going so he can get all his calories in for the day. The picture on the right is Briggs eating what we eat blended in 3 meals. Do you see a difference in skin color? Do you see his eyes brighter and less inflamed? My breaking point was when I was looking at pictures from the previous night, at the rodeo. I told Matt, Briggs looks sick, no color, puffy eyes, he looks absolutely miserable. I’m done there has to be a different way for him to get the nutrients from real food that we eat.
The Process
The G-tube or tubie as Briggs calls it, just bypasses the mouth, so anything edible can go into the tubie. Think like an oral eater, only thing different is you’re putting it in the blender after preparing a meal. I make a plate like Briggs is eating with us and he actually is very persistent, he adds the stuff he would like to his plate. I then add it to the blender, we do this process 3 times a day. After that we combine all the meals and Briggs gets hooked up to the pump at 5pm daily and it runs thru the night. Once the food is gone, we shut the pump off. You have herd the saying “you do what’s best for you.” This way Briggs has the option of eating by month if he chooses during the day. He doesn’t have to backpack the pump around while he plays.
Here are some things I recommend getting started blending.
- Getting a high-tech blender, either an Vitamix or Blendtec
- They are the number one recommendation. The food gets blended really well from the high-powered motion and the pump doesn’t get clogged. These blenders are so powerful that you can blend meat of any kind.
- Squeasy snacker spill proof silicone reusable food pouch
- We have these on hand if Briggs says he is hungry during the day and needs a snack. We then bolus feed him with a syringe. These are the bomb, portable and less messy to handle the blended food.
- Emesis bags
- You never know when you may need one. Sometimes their stomachs can’t handle all the food or air ends up in their tummy. There are many cases but just trust me, these aren’t a bad idea.
- The Infinity pump handles home blends better than the Joey, The Joey was so touchy, and I requested the switch after all kinds of personal research.
- With the Infinity pump there are a few hacks that are used for helping the blends go thru the pump smoothly.
A good quote I found when I started this journey and hope it helps you as it did for me.
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”