Feeding Tube Anyone?

[chrissy]

i talked to the ped gi today. if we can't get tianna to eat enough to gain some wait, she may end up with a feeding tube. she is anorexic, but i am beginning to wonder if she has anorexia nervosa. has anyone had to go this route to keep their child from losing too much weight?

christine

[key]

She definitely needs a team approach with the whole medical community if this is what she has. It is an emotional disorder as well as physical. I struggled in high school, but never got that bad. I can imagine just the diet being very difficult for her at her age and this is compounding the normal problems of adolescent girls. If she weighs what you say, then you need to have something done. I hope she and you get the help she needs.

Monica

[nikki-uk]

My son had a feeding tube from birth to 2 yrs(because of a heart condition)

Even at this young age it was difficult to manage.

To pass the tube on a teenager would require some level of co-operation on your daughters part.

Docs generally aren't keen unless the patient agrees.

Even though he was only a baby ,I used to have to 'pin down' my son to pass the tube-not pleasant.

I'd get the damn thing in,then he'd pull it right out

[ryebaby0]

My son had an ng tube while he was hospitalized, for about 4 weeks. He stabilized enough that he was able to convince his peds gi team to let him DRINK the Peptamen Jr. rather than continue the ng tube. Very skeptical, they were -- but they underestimated his determination to NOT have the tube It worked fine, even drinking 9 cans a day (which is an awful lot of this basically tasteless stuff) You might want to offer that if she is resistant . The tube itself can rub a sore spot at the back of their throat, but taped to their cheek and over the ear, it isn't a big deal. The awful part is putting it in (they swallow, you advance, they swallow, you advance it, etc...) Make sure they use a pediatric, not an adult, ng tube. (Ask--you'd be surprised how uninformed some places can be)

That being said, if she's anorexic, she needs admittance to an eating disorders clinic. I have several family members with eating disorders, and you need to be thinking "whole-health" and "long term" to get her to recovery. It's not just about calories

Joanna

[TCA]

My daughter had an NG tube for 5 mos. after birth due to a heart condition, but now has a MicKey Tube. It's not hard to manage and is allowing us to pump enough breast milk into her to keep her healthy until her next surgery in April. she'll 1 year old then. It's been a life-saver for her (seriously).

[chrissy]

i think our ped gi would do a G-tube in her side if it comes to that, but hopefully she will put on some weight here and get feeling better and get her appetite back. (i hope it is not an eating disorder)

christine