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help: my daughter was injured years ago in an auto accident. she now lives in a nursing home. her right side is nut usable . but her left side including her left arm are moveable. my problem and it is a big problem. she pulls the feeding tube out at the 'on' off connection. as a result her feed runs all over everything. we have no idea what to do about this. is anyone else in this situation and has a solution thanks
richard

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If she is still well enough to continue the feeding there are probably connections that lock in place. I don't know what they would be but there is always the old stand by duct tape.
Tube feeding is not without it's problems, it can be very uncomfortable especially if you wear something with a waist band. It can cause the gut to go into spasms which can be very painful. There is also the nausea that happens plus diarrhea when using a very high protein feed. I have had a J tube now for over a year and still can only eat about half the nutrition I need by mouth. I only need one can a night now and can easily manage the whole thing myself which is just as well because hubby soon got tired of setting it up. I would get intense diarrhea about two hours after setting up the feed but have now solved that problem by diluting it with water and slowing the feed. My problem in the begining was keeping the ends to stay together so I had many spills and it sets hard like caramel because of the high sugar content.
Another suggestion is to wrap her good hand if that would not agitate her too much.
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If you are a patient n what your feeding tube out but other are against it . previous injury don't want to increase the health care want ease the pain n be a peace with the lord.
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Does she have anything else to do with her hands to keep her occupied? She may not want to live? I would have them try to change most of her feedings while she is sleeping so she gets some nutrition. Have they tried to feed her food? If she is not having any quality of life it may be kinder to let her go?? What would you want for yourself in her condition???
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She may know what is is up against. I am sorry for you and her going through all of this. It is hard. My best wishes go out to you. I don't know what else to say. She may know what she feels, and she may know what she is doing...TAke Care.
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I'd still like to hear her explanation of why she pulls it apart.
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If it was my daughter, she would be pulling it out intentionally. She did not want to live in a nursing home with limited capacity. She made me promise to let her go if she got to that point. So I did.
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hello again: this girl is suffering from a 'dai' . over the past 11 years she has improved. she has become much brighter. however she has a 'don't care additude. she does whatever she wants. I think this is a result of the injury.
as far as her pulling the feeding tube apart. the nurses at the home where she lives 'hook up the feed for her and walk away. if she pulls the feed they come around after the feed has run all over the floor or in her bed and put everything away \until her next feed. as far as her doctor is concerned he tells me he has no control over the nursing home people. he tells me he is only a medical doctor with no power at the nursing home therefore he c an do nothing.
before my dauther was placed in a nursing home she lived in the hospital. she received 'speech therapy and other rehab. however when she was placed in the nursing home all this stopped. the reason being is that if you are a resident of a nursing home you do not qualify for rehab. a nursing home is only a place for old people to live to enjoy the final days of their lives.
I take my daughter home 3x a week. I purchased a handicapped van. however she needs a new van. the present van is over 20 years old. she will receie this c oming sept some settlement money. however the dept of health is going to take all of this money. once again the reason being: my daughter is being taken care of at the nursing home and does not need to leave the facility.
it goes on and on. I have a lawyer. but the government runs the game and they call the shots. thanks for listening to me.
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If she's aware, she may not want to live with a feeding tube. If she's not aware, then she can't help herself; I agree with the above it's the nursing homes responsibility to tape the connection so she is unable to pull it apart. You may want to speak with her physician; is it in her best interest to have a feeding tube. What's her prognosis? Will she ever recover and be a functioning person again? I'm sure it has been difficult for your family after her accident. End of life issues are not easy, especially when the person who is ill or injured is young. These types of decisions are extremely personal and are based on individual beliefs. Only you know what is best. I'm sorry she had an accident, she is lucky to have a caring family to stand by her.
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medcitynews2012/03/for-elderly-people-with-dementia-feeding-tubes-may-not-be-a-kindness/
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What is her cognitive level? Does she know what she is doing? Does she understand the consequences of what she is doing? Can she talk about her feelings regarding the feeding tube? I think those answers should be factored into the solution.
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I am so sorry to know that it was your daughter. My mom is the same way but she can stand up on her left leg so that made her able to help during transfer. This is one reason I was able to keep her at home.
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My mom did that before and a friend who is a nurse said to look into mic key g-tube button. Since then, never had a problem.
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My mom had her hands tied down to stop her, yet it turned out she was dying of lung cancer undiagnosed, unknown, untreated. Nobody checked. She is probably ready to die. Let her. Read published papers on-line -- feeding tubes are not recommended. Don't let your feelings get in the way of her feelings (yes, she has them). Death is natural. I nixed that in my Advanced Directives. I have early stage vascular dementia.
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So, she really isn't pulling the feeding tube "out", she is disconnecting it at the connection of the actual tube & the tubing that has the feed solution in it.

That connection can be taped securely. The nursing staff should also try to hide the connection, as best they can, instead of leaving it out in the open. They could try covering the connection with a large piece of gauze or even a towel & taping the gauze/towel down so she doesn't have access to it.

Or----here's a novel idea----the nurses should be doing frequent checks on her to make sure she isn't fiddling with the tubing instead of just hooking her up & not checking it until the alarm goes off on the pump 4 hours later. That's a nasty thing to say, and it has to do with staffing levels at nursing homes, not the fact that nurses don't care. Nurses don't have time to care. That's a sad situation.
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If she is in a nursing home, this is staff's responsibility, not yours. They could tape the connection. You don't say whether or not your daughter has her mental faculties. If she is doing this on purpose, perhaps she does not want to live which is another medical challenge. Let us know more...
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One word "Duct tape" well two
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