Wyatt's G-Tube

Some people had questions about Wyatt's g-tube and I am happy to answer them. It looks like the picture above. Excuse the crusty stuff around it, I took it before I cleaned it. It's usually very clean. Wyatt received his g-tube in February last year. Here are some pics of that. It was orginally a PEG Tube which is placed through the mouth from the inside out. Surgically, it's less incisions and only takes a few minutes to put in (according to Dr. A). Eventually, Wyatt's PEG was replaced by a g-tube done in the doctor's office and now I can replace it at home. He now has a cute little button. The tube is removeable so when he is not eating (which is only 4 hours a day) the tube can be removed and he can wear normal clothing. A balloon holds it in filled with 5cc's of water. Since Wyatt's vocal cord is paralazyed and a swallow study showed he could not protect his airway, a g-tube was our only solution to feed him and get him home. It turned out to be the best decesion we ever made. Wyatt is now a healthy 20 lbs and we can administer medication any time of night with out waking him. When he is sick, we can also give him pedilyte to keep him hydrated. Hopefully one day he will no longer need a g-tube, but for now it's keeping him healthy. Everyday, we try to orally stimulate him. He eats dinner with us, get's a bottle, and even eats ice cream. Well... when I say eating ice cream and getting a bottle, he does not swallow most of it. I just think it's important to keep him up on doing normal stuff and letting him experience good tastes in his mouth rather than spit up from reflux.