Lucy's Blog - Part 9

Whether slow or fast, progress is progress and Lucy has made some tangible advances in her bid to gain strength & weight as she struggles with her gastro-intestinal problems.

Hi everyone, 

I saw my Gastroenterology Professor last month and I just wanted to update you all. I’ve been thinking a lot about everything he said; I wanted to come to terms with it all properly before writing about it. Firstly, he drew my blood to check for signs of improvement, as my blood levels were significantly imbalanced earlier this year due to malnutrition related illness; fingers crossed for better results, the next step was to face the daunting task of stepping on the dreaded weighing scales. Ever since my weight started dropping drastically, I’ve despised this activity; it was always incredibly disheartening to find out that my weight had plummeted despite my best efforts, however; the consultant and I were pleasantly surprised to see that since January I’ve made gradual progress, albeit slowly, I’ve still gained; he was happy with it and thinks tube feeding is doing me a lot of good.

We went on to have a long discussion about my gastrointestinal and oesophageal dysmotility, which are connected to my digestive health issues. Once again, he expressed his belief that tube feeding is likely to be a long-term solution for me as these conditions cannot be cured. There is a possibility that my conditions may become more manageable with medication in the future, but for now, tube feeding remains my most viable option. In light of this, he believes now is an appropriate time to swap my nasogastric feeding tube to a more permanent solution, such as a PEG tube, which is inserted directly into the stomach and doesn't need replacing every 2-3 months like an NG tube. I'm nervous about going through this procedure, but I know it's the best thing for me under the circumstances. I'm waiting for the referral to be sent off to the nutritional team and then I'll be called in for a pre op. The procedure is called a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, which mean a surgical incision is made through the stomach and a feeding device is inserted through the opening and is held in place by a special cap. This will enable me to keep on top of my nutrition without having eat as much as necessary and suffer from the awful symptoms of my condition.