MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INSERT DATE HERE
Ask me about my tube!
Tube Feeding Awareness Week is February 5-11, 2012
YOUR CITY, YOUR STATE INITIALS – Feeding tubes not only save lives, but allow hundreds of thousands of North Americans to live their lives. I invite you to ask me about my tube!
Tube feeding, also known as home enteral nutrition (HEN), is a lifesaving therapy for people who for various reasons cannot obtain adequate nutrition orally. Common reasons for a feeding tube include severe food allergies, swallowing disorders, gastroparesis, cancer, mitochondrial disease, short gut syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and traumatic intestinal injuries. People of all ages are fed using feeding tubes placed in the digestive tract.
INSERT A BRIEF STORY ABOUT WHY YOU TUBE FEED AND WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU.
Example:
Tube feeding has saved my life. After having multiple intestinal resections due to Crohn’s disease, I developed short gut syndrome and gastroparesis. I was unable to tolerate food or drink by mouth. I lost over 30 lbs in six weeks. I had to be hospitalized for malnutrition, dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. I was starving to death.
My doctor decided to place a feeding tube into my small intestine using a minor surgical procedure. I then began tube feeding for eight hours overnight, seven days a week. Before I got my feeding tube, I was unable to work or enjoy everyday activities like going for a walk. Now, I am back at work, working part-time towards my master’s degree, and exercising again. I have the energy to do all the things I used to do before I got sick.
Unfortunately, most people aren’t aware of what a feeding tube is or why they are used. Please help me and thousands of others who rely on this life-sustaining therapy to educate the public as to what tube feeding is about. Ask me about my tube!
For more information about tube feeding, please visit www.oley.org or www.feedingtubeawareness.org. The Oley Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that enriches the lives of those requiring home intravenous and tube feeding through education, outreach, and networking. Feeding Tube Awareness Foundation supports parents and families by sharing practical information and experience on tube feeding, and advocating for awareness of tube feeding in a positive manner.
MEDIA INTERVIEW/PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
What: 2nd Annual Tube Feeding Awareness Week
When: INSERT DATE
AND TIME
Where: INSERT PLACE AND ADDRESS
Who: LIST WHO WILL BE THERE (CONSUMERS, DOCTORS, NURSES, etc.)
For more information, please contact:
YOUR NAME AND LAST NAME
YOUR PHONE NUMBER
YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS