Article: Diane - How To Elevate the Head of the Bed for the (G-Tube) Feeding Tube... or Not.

Diane - The Pink House ITC

Right now, I am feeling a bit:

1. pissed
2. guilty as all get-out

When Bob was discharged from the hospital, I was trained by the nurses in Acute Rehab on how to feed Bob through his G-tube. At that time, the nurses told me to always "keep the head his bed at a 45 degree angle" or else he would "aspirate and possibly die".

Right before we left the hospital, a nutritionist was sent up to Bob's room with the prescription for Bob's Jevity (the nutritional liquid food) and again, I was warned, to "never, ever lower the head of his bed less than a 45 degree angle."

When Bob arrived home, the home care agency sent a nurse set up the feeding pump and show me how to use it. Again, I was told "never let him lie flat, always keep the head of the bed at a 45 degree angle" or else "the feeding tube will back up and fill his lungs with fluid and he could drown."

I remember asking someone if that was just when he was feeding or all the time. And was told to never let him lie flat, ever, because the tube could cause fluid in his stomach to backflow up his throat.

Back then, the only thing I knew about feeding tubes was that Terri Schiavo had one and they turned it off and killed her. That was the extent of my feeding tube knowledge.

I did not see the procedure when they inserted Bob's peg tube, only knew what I saw from the outside -- that long, thin rubber tube disappearing into a hole in his belly. I imagined that behind that hole, Bob's feeding tube was some sort of coiled contraption inside his stomach, sort of a fragile snake, that was going to pop or explode if I wasn't careful and all his stomach contents would shoot right out of his mouth and he would die on the spot.

So, like a good, careful wife, I followed the directions to the T ...

See the full article How To Elevate the Head of the Bed for the (G-Tube) Feeding Tube... or Not from The Pink House on The Corner.