Getting fed by NG tube

My wife had an NG tube for about four months prior to her Ivor Lewis surgery - that was the only way she could eat or drink. It's not pleasant - but we managed it.

The most tedious part was having to test for stomach juices each time, before starting the feeds. (The idea is to confirm that the tube is still safely in the stomach.) Sometimes that was very difficult.

How are you finding things yourselves?

Thank you for your reply.

We agree worst thing is testing ph levels sometime a nightmare sometimes easy .

Last week it was above 6 and were told to go to hospital we were there for 7 hour until sorted with 2 xrays .

The actual feed is very easy 4 times a day 340 ml of nutrition plus, we are hoping that the tumour has shrunk so she can get tube out and feed as natural as possible.

My wife can't have surgery apparently and can't have a stent,we also found that NG tube plasters for her nose are like gold dust.

How's your  wife doing now 

Wishing you all the best

My wife was feeding this way about four years ago now, and I forget some of the details - but the general protocol we were using involved a single large feed (1 litre, I think) overnight.

I always thought that the pH testing before each feed seemed like an unnecessary burden: I can't see how the tube could get dislodged from the stomach, and find its way into the lungs, unless something very odd had happened. But I suppose that that must have happened to at least one patient, with the obvious bad consequences - so I assume the protocol now is to rigorously test before each and every feed in order to avoid any possibility of the risk. (And, just for clarity, that's what we did.)

Our cancer specialist nurses were very good about getting us sufficient NG tube plasters. So, if you're running out of plasters, my suggestion would be to ask your nurses.

Best wishes for everything!