First, formula is delivered at 100-ml/hr (I slowed it down from 110 per). Husband seems unable to tolerate too many cartons in succession and also deals with them better during the day rather than overnight (less nausea). I give him four containers per day, either broken into three separate times, or all overnight. Four containers will give him 1,500 calories of formula plus 530 calories for one container of High-Calorie Boost. I try to get him to consume 2,000 calories total for every 24-hour period. Of course it’s not easy as he asks me to stop the formula if and when he becomes nauseous. Food consumption orally is very little so we must rely upon the formula. As a side note, his not eating very much is due to a mental block—afraid of vomiting. Just the other day he had his first session with a hypnotherapist and we feel that this will be a success. Once he eats regular food and gets rid of that tube, I believe everything will come together.

What you are doing, as it relates to tube maintenance, is almost exactly what my husband has been doing all along. The differences are minor: he uses Hibiclens for cleaning and Desitin as a barrier cream (which includes zinc oxide). He also tapes the end of the tube the way you do and uses the same type of tape that you describe, and also gets the split sponges from Amazon.

He has the balloon-type j-tube, which is the type most likely to come out. The original tube when placed during surgery was in from early June until late October. When it was eventually replaced, he received the balloon type. The problems thereafter were: tube deflation (which was re-inflated) followed a week later by the tube falling out and being replaced (with leakage around the tube for several days); and then recently the tube just fell out during a feeding—it was replaced in the local ER and the leakage has been present since (8 or 9 days ago).