4 month check-up. Learning about a g tube

At today’s visit to the pulmonologist we meet Luis in the waiting room. He is a gangly little guy with thick glasses slipping down his nose and a bag of potato chips clasped in each fist.

He munches away and informs us that soon he’ll be getting a g tube for night feeding. He’s had one before, he tells us, to assist with weight gain. 

When we meet with the lung therapist, social worker, and pulmonologist one of my first questions is, “What is a g tube?!”

We learn that it is something that perhaps Valentino will need later in life if he has trouble gaining weight. It is a gastronomy tube. A g tube is placed under the skin of the upper abdomen and into the stomach. A person can then hook themselves up to high calorie formula and take in calories while sleeping. It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. I can’t even begin to picture it and am considering “google-ing” it when we get home. But, I know better.

We ask if it’s possible to do without a g tube. The social worker tells us probably yes. Here’s how…

add extra cream to mashed potatoes, extra cheese to pizza, extra eggs for breakfast, etc. 

Sounds okay so far. We already begin our day with high test fuel:

protein shake with omega oils, eggs and bacon, toast with cream cheese, handful of berries (we’ll just add a lot of whipped cream to Valentino’s-lucky little guy)

We ask, “So why don’t people do that instead of a g tube?”

Response, “Because some parents and CFers find it easier to have a g tube.” 

We hope that we can teach Valentino how to add calories in a healthful way to his diet–coconut oil, avocado, steak, protein shakes, lots of eggs with mayo (YUM)–so that he can avoid a g tube AND have beautiful hair, skin, and nails too!