My dad was in the hospital (I posted earlier about that) and the nursing staff discovered a bed sore - I was horrified, I thought I was taking good care - the bed sore was right at the top of the buttocks towards the inside, where your bone pokes out - I realized I was too shy to look closely.. thankfully the medics said it was in the process of healing now...
So my advice is to specially get your bed-bound patients checked my nursing staff regularly, at least once a week - and please change their sides every 2 hours if possible to prevent bed sores
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sammy90210
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Sorry about your dad! Mine went through a similar rough spell and we had the doctor order a visiting nurse to come and see us through the healing. My dad's caregivers all blamed each other for not caring for him properly so the nurse gave a single set of instructions for all to follow. I also bought an alternating pressure air mattress because he always sleeps on the same side clutching the rail of the hospital bed. It works great! It had been extremely difficult to try to reposition him every 2 hours during the night and he would get mad. Then he would just roll over and grab the bed rail again.
We put egg crate cushioning on his reclining chair and he has a special cushion for his wheelchair. One of the caregivers suspected he had a yeast infection in the groin area on top of everything. She was right! Now we have prescription powder for when that happens. I also order a special barrier cream on Amazon.
Please don't be shy. My husbands last sore was in a similar place and took ages to clear as being between his buttocks, it was always warm and damp. There is no dignity where medical treatment is concerned. Any tiny speck is now treated as a sore to stop it turning into one. He even manages a humming laugh when I get my torch to inspect his nether regions. I know it's different doing this for a parent but our sons have had to so personal care and I washed my dad's bottom on many occasions.
I hope your dad soon heals. Colin's skin has improved since I've been giving him the high energy PEG feed as well as feeding by mouth and the sore that was taking ages to heal, improved within days of the PEG being fitted.
In the UK, anything other than water, meds and Ensure is frowned upon although my friend did give her daughter champagne on New Year's Eve.
A tip from our DN was to give a final flush of Coca-Cola instead of water once a week to keep the PEG tube clean internally. I noticed that M was more awake and smiley after this, so now I give her not just a flush but full 60ml a few times a week at lunch, means M is more awake in early afternoon. May be a caffeine or sugar rush but so what no teeth to rot. Also means tube does not fur up as quick though is stained brown.
When I give Kim her meds through her tube in the morning and at lunchtime, I crush them and stir them into a cup of hot, strong coffee. I then add some ice to cool it down. This gives her a caffeine jolt and seems to perk her up through the day more. I also give her the Coke at times. But I have to do it discretely. Kim was a lover of Coke! Whenever she would see me pouring it in her tube, she would wrestle trying to get it from me so she could take some by mouth. Which for her at this point, is not a good thing.
Thanks Ketchupman, not thought of iced espresso will try it, luckily M was not into fizzy drinks but strong tea was her (and my) tipples during day. But not recommend tea for PEG as tannin furs the tube very rapidly. Know what you mean about trying to grab things for the mouth especially chocolate but last time a couple of weeks ago caused major choke so nothing since and do I get the eye in the supermarket when I by-pass the sweets aisle on the weekly shoping expedition, not into internet shopping.
Yeah, since Kim has come back to life after the past few weeks, I've been giving her the nectar thick water and some Hershey's Kisses every now and then. The past few nights, she has really been jerking and shouting in her sleep, keeping me up all night. So I've backed off on her carbidopa-levadopa, as I think I've increased it too much. But then last night she started moaning all night and making choking/gurgling sounds. I used our suction machine several times, but it still persisted. She has a fever and her heart rate was elevated. Scaring me to death. Afraid she may have aspirated on her feed overnight. I keep her elevated, but she somehow pulled her pillow from under her head, so she wasn't elevated as much. I finally decided to call the Hospice nurse this morning. They told me to give some Tylenol via the tube. And suggested I give her some Morphine to calm her down (part of their "comfort pack" that hospice provides you). I told them I wasn't quite ready for that. I asked for a nurse to come by this morning. She came with an hour (shock!) and she didn't hear anything in her lungs. Had me deep suction her throat again, which seems to help. She also showed me how to administer the Morphine when the time comes. It's a low-dose drug that helps calm the patient when they are having difficulty breathing.
Also, on the tube, hers got clogged yesterday because I probably didn't crush her pills up good enough or didn't stir it enough before pouring it in. Fortunately I have one of these cleaners, which really does a great job. You can run it all the way down to the flange. Highly recommend anyone with a PEG to have one of these. smile.amazon.com/Bard-Perip...
Thank you Tim - when you say "flush" do you mean pour it down the tube like a normal feed - or plug the stopper and keep the Cola in the tube for a few mins? Because I read that's recommended too
I use a syringe to pump the feed down the PEG tube, what I do is dissolve the meds in 20ml water then flush with clean 20ml water, then give the liquid feed and flush with 40ml of clean water then twice a week 60 ml of Coca-Cola. This leaves Coke in the tube until next feed. So I assume it is the same as both your solutions.
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