Tube Talk
Thank you to everyone who sent material for the “Tube Talk” column. Anyone who is interested in participating can send their tips, questions and thoughts about tube feeding to: Tube Talk, c/o The Oley Foundation, 214 Hun Memorial MC-28, Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY 12208; or E-mail DahlR@mail.amc.edu. Information shared in this column represents the experience of that individual and should not imply endorsement by the Oley Foundation. The Foundation strongly encourages readers to discuss any suggestions with their physician and/or wound care nurse before making any changes in their care.
Technique for Granulation Tissue
My husband has esophageal cancer and had a g-tube inserted 6 months ago. We had a big problem with granulation. After painful silver nitrate burning, we found through trial and error, and our homeopathic physician’s suggestion, a way to keep it under control.
Between
the plastic bumper and the skin, we keep a split 2" x 2" gauze. Once that is in
place, I thoroughly wet the gauze with Colloidal Silver (found at health food
stores, Colloidal Silver comes in a bottle with a dropper, and contains an
active ingredient similar to silver nitrate, but at a much lower, more tolerable
level.). It takes a good month or so to heal the granulation, but it has been a
lifesaver. We change the gauze in the morning and at night, and each time we
soak the gauze with the colloidal silver, which has antibiotic properties. We
tried a lot of other techniques, and nothing has worked but this.
Applying small amounts of Colloidal Silver topically (on your skin) may
help with irritation at your stoma site. We do not recommend ingesting
this product through your tube or by mouth.
— Elaine Warfield, East
Jewett, NY
elainewarf@yahoo.com
Mic-Key Extension Sets Turning Black
Around the end of November I noticed my daughter’s Mic-key extension sets (Kimberly-Clark Ballard Medical) turning black after 48 hours of use. The material is stuck inside the tube and will not come out with normal soap and water washing. By squeezing the tube very tightly between my fingers and running them down the tubing at the same time, some of the residue will come out of the tube, but then gets clogged at the ends. Even several cleanings like this will not remove all of the residue. We had never seen this before. In the past, the sets looked fine after two weeks, but we were advised to change them anyway; now we have to change them after two days.
I called our home health care company and the manufacturer and was told they had never heard of this. I contacted a friend who uses the same sets with her daughter, who said she had just started experiencing the same thing. Both of our daughters are on the same formula, EleCare. We have ruled out infection as a potential cause of the build up.
Ballard Medical is now testing my daughter’s extension sets. If you are having this same problem, feel free to call me or contact John Blight at Ballard Medical (800-528-5591) .
— Candace Webb
momluvnit@yahoo.com
(970) 663-1045