Benny Unplugged!

Great news! I feel like we have graduated! Ben's surgeon pulled out his PEG tube last week! It is wonderful to see his tummy without a plastic tube hanging out, and it literally hung out. His surgeon had planned on him fattening up, and that never happened, so the tube was too big. He had a Nutriport, which was a fantastic brand for him. The only drawback is that the end of the stem that goes into his stomach is square shaped, and is rough on the tract of skin when being put in or removed. We changed the brand when he was blowing the mic-key valves every two weeks. Insurance tends to frown on replacing buttons every two weeks, when they are supposed to be good for up to 6 months. The Nutriport also prevented granulation tissue from growing around his stoma, which had been a bothersome problem with the mic-key. I really hated burning that tissue off, and Ben really, really hated having the tissue burned off because it hurt. Now his tummy looks like it has two belly buttons. The scar should heal up in time. Ben is proud of his tummy and loves to show it off. He is looking forward to starting swimming lessons when the hole has closed up. He is also doing pretty well eating by mouth. Thank goodness.