J-tube

We finally made up our mind. Instead of chasing after having James' j-tube tested and having him go through yet another round of x-rays and trauma we decided we would just pull out James' j-tube and put a g-tube back in.

So, on Friday night we prepped all we needed for the change and went to work. Only to find out that they really took us seriously when we told them we wanted a tube that was secure. We deflated the balloon which holds the tube in and tried to pull the tube out. After some tugging and cries from James we realized that there was another disc after the balloon which would not allow us to pull the tube out. This caused a bit of panic as we worried whether we'd be able to put it back in or if we had dislodge it from it's place in the intestine. But we were sucessful in pushing the tube back in and inflating the balloon again.

We restarted his feeds and everything has been going fine. So we're still stuck with a j-tube. We were suppose to get a call on Thursday or Friday to have the tube checked, but we did not get a call and I did not chase after them since we were just going to pull the tube anyways. Of course ... it's a long weekend and so Tuesday morning I have to get right on it, but I already know it won't get done before Thursday when we go back to see the Lung Specialist. This is really disappointing as we will not have a clear answer about the j-tube and therefore won't be able to clearly discuss what is causing James' vomitting ... altho recently we have become quite confident that it is chest related. Likely the bile comes from the heaving of his chest which also makes him heave out what in his gut.

Regardless of the cause of his vomitting we still would like the j-tube removed as we're seeing a pattern of James moaning and crying at nights. We turn off his feeding pump and he stops moaning. We're not sure of the reasoning behind why he only moans at nights and not during the day, but we definitely see how the tube does not agree with him all the time. He also continues to tell us at times (usually during the night) that he has "owee tummy".

On a happy note, we do think that the continous feeds is working in James' favour. We haven't got a weight on him lately but we are eager to get an updated one as he seems to be filling out and putting on some weight.