Tube feeding for bedridden patients
Often, change isn’t as scary as what we imagine.
Following what happened at the end of last year—Dad fell and split his head open—we had to switch from feeding by mouth to tube feeding.
Going back 3–4 years, Dad’s neurologist recommended that he switch from oral feeding to tube feeding because his brain function was declining further (Dad has had Alzheimer’s for over ten years), and his swallowing wasn’t as good as before, increasing the risk of choking and developing a lung infection.
At that time, we refused what the doctor suggested and insisted on continuing to feed him by mouth. After that, it turned out exactly as the doctor said: he choked on food and got an infection, to the point that he had to be hospitalized on average 1–2 times a year, but we still stubbornly kept feeding him by mouth.
If you ask why we wouldn’t change, back then we still felt that Dad could still swallow—even though he ate slowly and each meal took at least an hour to feed.
Another reason was that I imagined it would be impossible—Dad would never cooperate and would definitely pull the tube out. Tube feeding looked scary and complicated. In short, I just didn’t want change.
Fast forward to today, the day Dad switched to tube feeding. We prepare the food once a day, then portion it and keep it in the fridge to feed 4 meals (once prepared, it must not be stored for more than 24 hours).
The food-prep steps may be more complicated than before. You have to weigh and measure each ingredient according to the formula the doctor provided. Before feeding, you warm it up. But the method isn’t difficult or complicated like I had imagined at all—it's easier than slowly spoon-feeding for hours. Plus, this method is safer for Dad; we don’t have to worry about whether he’ll choke. And the biggest concern—that Dad would pull the tube out—can be solved by using anti-pull mittens/gloves (available at large pharmacies or online).
For anyone who’s still hesitating about switching to tube feeding, I want to encourage you to try. If you try it and don’t like it, you can switch back to oral feeding like before.
Sending encouragement to all devoted children.
Pharmacist Rungmit Chunhengphan
Co-founder of Piti. Good skin, good mood, good health.
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