Complete Tubefeeding: Everything you need to know about tubefeeding, tube nutrition, and blended diets

Wow! This is exactly the kind of book I was looking for to deal with my 1-year-old son, who has been tube-fed (NG and G) since he was 2-months-old. It gave me the confidence to try a blenderized diet, which has significantly helped with his vomiting issues. My boy was vomiting 20-30 times/day, but since putting him on a blenderized diet several months ago, he vomits less than 5 times/day. This is a vast improvement! This book is my go-to resource on which food to include in his diet, i.e. ginger to help with the nausea, and cinnamon to help make vomiting less painful. What a great resource! I've already bought it for another family with a tubie baby, and for my friend who is caring for her 95-year-old mother, who is on a G-tube too. I can't recommend it enough.If you're trying to decide whether to get a G-tube or to stay on the NG-tube... get the G-tube. There's a little bit a learning curve, but it's so much better. Also, ask your doctor for at least a 14-Fr G-tube. I wish I had. We only have a 12-Fr, so we sometimes get clogs from the blenderized diet.

This book was the most helpful resource when I spent 7 months on a gastric feeding tube. My dietician had next to no advice to offer. There are other resources out there more geared for pediatrics, but this book is the MOST helpful for adults. Lots of practical tips, such as how to unclog a tube, what foods blend well, and reassurance to blend the food YOU like. His reflection that everyone does something like leave the top off the blender and make a huge mess was very reassuring through the difficult process of making daily blends, and made me feel not so isolated and alone in dealing with this. It is SO important to give oneself good nutrition with real foods rather than rely on canned formula, with the main ingredient being corn maltodextrin. I am particularly in awe that Eric wrote this book while he personally was declining due to an autoimmune disorder. He absolutely made a huge contribution to the thousands of people living on gastric feeding tubes by writing this book.

Husband is being tube fed, and will be for awhile. This is helpful, and gave me some ideas as to how to supplement the horrible carton liquid foods he is dependent on. We are using one from a company we had vowed to boycott. But he still needs it to regain weight after chemo and radiation, as he heads into another round of chemo. Because of this book, I felt the courage to switch one or two meals a day with some other recipes that have increased his weight slightly, and we no long suffer from clogged pipes. I like that this book (sort of) normalizes tube feeding. I had no idea there were so many people out there that go through this.

Facing the upcoming installation of a feeding tube, I was looking for a book that would explain many aspects: types of tubes, use and care and discuss blended feeding vs enteral canned/bottled products. I've found the book very informative and it's given me a good basis for talks with the VN when she comes after I get the tube.

I bought this book and the Homemade Blended Formula Handbook when my son's nutritionist gave us the okay to try pureed food through his g-tube. This book is fantastic! My son has had a g-tube for 2 1/2 years, so I skipped some of the info on caring for the button and cleaning the tubing and syringes. But, if you or someone you are caring for is getting a feeding tube, this book will provide you with valuable info on what to expect and how to care for your tube.If you are interested in trying pureed food through a g-tube, this book has many practical tips (like how to unclog your tube when food gets stuck in it) and tons of recipes. It will teach you how to create a recipe or recipes with the correct amount of protein, grains, fruits and veggies and it provides great info on herbs that can help with reflux, stomach motility and stomach aches. I also liked the tip on a water bolus 30 minutes before a feeding as a way to help empty out the stomach. I found this book to be more helpful than the Blended Formula Handbook, which is a compilation of articles from parents, therapists and healthcare providers.

This author who sadly lost his battle to cancer was the very first resource and guide who helped myself back in 2011 as I began to do blenderized diet for my tubie who is 17years old now. He poured his heart and soul into his book. May he Rest In Peace and know he helped so many people!

This book is essential for any and all persons who have feeding via tubes. Twelve years ago I was discharged after my first g-tube was placed during a short surgical procedure. I was given absolutely no instruction. This book would have saved me so much grief, pain and discomfort. One item I would add is the use of Calmoseptine ointment around the stoma when it becomes inflamed and painful. A thin film of this ointment helps heal the area very quickly. The recipes toward the back of the book are a wonderful addition for those of us who have tired of using Ensure, Boost or some other liquid supplement. While those are great, there is no substitute for "real food". This provides great guidance in preparing nutritious meals at home. Thanks to the author for his thoroughness. Excellent read!

I ordered this book around the time it became evident that my sweetie was going to need a feeding tube. When the time finally came it was an emergency. Sweetie was discharged with very little information about his new tube. This book saved us!. It was not only informative but gave us a starting place to ask questions and learn the things we needed to know.

I actually started corresponding with the Aadhaar, the late author of this book, before I knew he was writing it. What he told me, about his own journey as a tube-fed adult and his transition to making his own feeds (as opposed to using canned or bottled commercial formulas), is what he put in the book - and it's changed my life.Complete Tubefeeding is a comprehensive two-part manual about feeding tubes: the first part is about their history and uses, the second about what we put in them. It's packed with information, presented so carefully and clearly that you accumulate knowledge and confidence without really realising it.The part of the book that's made the critical difference for me is about the blended diet; home-made tube feeds, starting from real, fresh, food. Once you've read and understood the book, it seems obvious - natural, really - that needing the assistance of a tube to get the food to your stomach does not usually indicate that you need to eat something materially different from what you'd have if you didn't need the tube. This is the central premise of the blended diet (although, of course, it's infinitely flexible for modification to individual needs and preferences) - and taking it to its natural conclusion and equipping yourself with a decent blender and just cracking on, feels like the safest, sensiblest and most normal thing in the world. I'll leave it to the book to talk about the health benefits of moving to a 'real food' diet - suffice to say they are huge, sometimes spectacular, and where someone is failing to thrive on commercial formula, potentially life-saving. The savings in financial cost, likewise.This is an absolute must-have resource for anyone who has a tube, anyone providing care (professional or kinship) to someone with one, or anyone who knows that a tube is in their, or their loved one's future.As soon as finances allow I'll be buying three more of these books: one for my doctor's surgery, one for my dietician and one for the local library. In an ideal world, we'd see them given out to each newly-betubed patient, adult or child.

I was very interested in this book as I have a family member who has been tube fed for the past 10 years but with bottle feed prescribed for him by the GP. I was always told nothing else was to go down the tube so it was encouraging to read of "tubies" who use ordinary food though liquidised. I have learnt a lot from the book and my mother has started to read it and found it beneficial.

I bought this book to find out more about blended diet & tube feeding in general. I found it a clear, informative & well-researched book, slightly biased towards blended diet, but with good reasons as to why. I have to balance care needs with food preparation & a care team who are not so keen, so I dip in & out of blended diet as our schedule allows & this book is very useful, with a few ideas for recipes too.

this book is exactly what i needed-just needed it about a week before it finally arrived!!! not sure why it took so long to come but it took AGES!!! my little baby was due to have a gastrostomy and heard about this book so thought i would get it to read up before she had the op. i ordered it in plenty of time (i thought) but it didnt arrive until the morning we were off to the hospital!! i would say order it about three weeks before you want to read it!

I've just read this book cover to cover. My MIL has not been getting along with commercial formula provided by her healthcare specialists. This book has given us the will and knowledge to support a move to blended real food. Highly recommended.