Taping a GJ-Tube
by Amanda Upton
Over the past 3.5 years we have had a lot of practice at the art of taping. Taping feeding tubes is something tubie parents should be able to put on a resume!
Taping is a question that I find comes up frequently in the feeding tube world. I have two daughters and they each have a different kind of feeding tube. Jillian has an AMT G-Jet and Lydia has a PEG GJ-tube. GJ-tubes should not spin in circles because they are at risk of the tube coiling back into the stomach. Some kids don’t have issues with their tube spinning, but if we don’t tape Jillian’s tube it likes to turn a lot, and I would rather tape it then risk it coiling and having to drive an hour to our local Interventional Radiology department. By taping Jillian’s tube, we have not had a tube pull out or had it coil in her stomach from turning. I can’t promise this is fool proof, but it is something that has helped us.
Here is how we tape Jillian’s G-Jet:
We use tube pads and a piece of Tegaderm cut in half.
First we put on the pad.
Put one half of the Tegaderm over the top part of the G-Jet.
The bottom part is next. Put the other half of the Tegaderm over the bottom.
Peel the paper off slowly. I push the tape down after I peel the Tegaderm off to make sure it sticks well.
What it looks like taped.
Then we put a belt on to help hold the extensions in place and help take some of the weight of the extensions off the tube itself (plus feeding tube belts are cute!)
Here is how we tape Lydia’s PEG GJ-tube:
We have used Tegaderm and multiple other tapes and have found that the tape on a roll works best with the PEG. Lydia’s GJ-tube has a right angle piece on it that we LOVE, which keeps it from spinning as much.
Author: Amanda Upton • Date: 1/10/2016
About the Author
Amanda is married to Brent and has two children, Jillian and Lydia. They are both still considered undiagnosed although it is thought that there is an underlying muscle issue with a maternal genetic inheritance as Amanda has many similar symptoms, just not as severe as the girls. They both have GJ-tubes and Jillian is on oxygen and has leg braces. They are the happiest kids, and they both love making people at our local children’s hospital smile. Jillian’s favorite things revolve around pink, purple, glitter, and tutus, and she is ok with all the medical stuff as long as she can make it girly. Lydia loves smiling and cuddling. They are a big Disney family and planning trips to the parks is their stress relief.
Amanda has a degree in early childhood education in both regular and special ed and taught 4K until Jillian was two years old, when she became a stay-at-home mom to help protect Jillian’s lungs from germs. They rely on their faith, friends, and family to get them through the hard aspects of being a medically complex family. Her blog can be found at brownandpinkpolkadots.blogspot.com.
