Hello everyone,
My father has had his J-tube for about a month and we are having a terrible time keeping it "clean". It has become clogged 4-5 times already and I am wondering if any of you have tips as to how to prevent this from happening. It has become so frustrating that he no longer wants to sleep while being fed for fear he will wake up in a pool of Ensure! It's happened once before. Thank goodness he has been able to eat by mouth and consume enough calories lately. However, if he could be fed overnight via the tube he would certainly gain even more weight!
We've been instructed to dilute his formula (which is Ensure plus) so that it's at 75% strength. In other words, 7oz. of Ensure plus with an additional 3 - 4 oz of water. His pump rate is 95mL per hour and I flush with warm water (at least 60mL) every 3 hrs! Even with this routine, his tube has become clogged. I've also tried cranberry juice, soda water, coca-cola, squeezing the tube from the bottom up (which did in fact bring up a lot of gunk!), pumping water at a slow rate, and keeping him in an upright position.
In addition, I have never crushed any pills to put into water to pour down his tube.
Have any of you used a different formula or different formula to water ratio?
Thank you very much for sharing your experiences with J-tube feedings!
Ladyboom