Peg/rigg feeding

[sue-66]

Hi, my partner is not able to safely swallow, so has the rigg tube in stomach. Since having it done, I'm getting a member of his family saying its a permanent thing. But I'm hearing it can be short or long term. I wondered if anyone has experienced having had one and if they had it a while, but then were able to have it removed, when eating and drinking for themselves in rehab. Is it also something in rehab that they seriously address with the speech and language, rather then just leave it because its more convenient?

[Kirk5w7]

About the peg, I had mine in for around 2 months they finally removed it once I was eating and drinking normally when I was in rehab.

Can't comment on the speech therapy as I didn't need that .

Janet x

[sue-66 in reply to Kirk5w7]

Thank you for your reply kirk. The family member had me having doubts about the removal, as I was hoping they will address his swallowing properly at rehab. He is swallowing now, but I don't think he's at a point of managing to eat safely, or enough and although everyones length of time is different, regarding eating again, your opinion and experience gives me a better idea and understanding of it

[cat3]

Hu Sue. Difficulty swallowing is a frequent issue after brain injury so peg feeding is used to sustain the patient whilst their brain is in the early stages of recovery.

Talk to the staff about it ; I'm sure they'll reassure you that it's normally a temporary measure until your man can be re-introduced to eating ; usually liquidised food to begin with.

I hope your partner will start progressing before too long. Best wishes, Cat xx

[sue-66 in reply to cat3]

Thank you Cat. At the moment he's on a normal ward and one nurse can be negative and one positive. As soon as he gets a bed in rehab I will ask lots of questions x

[Elkay_1954]

Our son had a peg for about 2 months until he could swallow some foods. The whole process was taken very slowley, one step st a time. They reviewed him each week before he was able to move on to the next stage. It's usually very easy (and super fast) to remove the peg when the time is right so don't worry. X

[Elkay_1954]

Ps The SALT connection (Speech and Language Therapy) is that SALT therapists are the ones who regularly review the swallowing action of the individual.

[sue-66 in reply to Elkay_1954]

Thank you elkay, one of his family said it was a permanent thing, so that had me worried, but all the answers here are helpful

[Dougieunited]

Morning Sue,

I've had my PEG for about 11 months and we are just about starting to think about having it removed.

One of the effects of my accident was a paralysed vocal chord which meant my airway wasn't protected hence the PEG tube and feed. When I was in hospital I did get to a point where I had daily speech therapy and regular appointments with the nutrition team.

Please feel to message me if you have any questions.

Neil

[sue-66]

Thank you neil . As he is on the normal ward (waiting to transfer to a rehab ward near home) the help is minimal and I find I'm having to constantly ask and I haven't even spokee to the SALTs people and its not for lack of trying on my part. So I have no idea about how his throat muscles are. Very frustrating.

[TBI2015 in reply to sue-66]

Salt are. Notoriously difficult to get hold of even for us nurses!

It's normally temporary obviously dependent on recovery etc

Take one day at a time if you start thinking too far ahead you'll drown in "what ifs"

Good luck for the future

[sue-66 in reply to TBI2015]

I try not to look too far ahead and sometimes I do, but then I concentrate on what he needs next . The nurses are great, overworked and short staffed, so I hate having to bother them, it's the specialist in the different departments that are a pain to speak to. That's why the info on here is a great help and hearing other people's experiences

[TBI2015 in reply to sue-66]

You could try ringing the department yourself and asking for a n appointment asap leave message after message of you must.

Unfortunately as a relative of a thing survivor I've found a lot of the time you have to keep knocking till they answer x

[sue-66 in reply to TBI2015]

Great idea