Liam's Tubie Journey

Liam Michael is no stranger to feeding tubes. In his 2 1/2 years he has had many different types of feeding tubes. His very first feeding tube was while he was in NICU.

August 2011

 It was a short journey and lasted only long enough for him to learn to eat by mouth via bottle.

August 2011

 He mastered that quickly and was tube free at discharge.

August 2011, Last night in NICU

Liam seemed to be doing very well at home.

Then one day Liam started eating less and less.

It became impossible to wake him up to feed him.

Keeping up with his strict feeding schedule just wasn't possible.

Liam stopped gaining weight.

He started loosing weight.

The specialist at UCSF decided it was time for a feeding tube.

The NG tube was Liam's first tube outside of NICU.

Last week of September 2011. Mommy made his heart.

What should have only been a few days stay at UCSF,

turned into 14 days.

We had to be taught how to insert the tube without doing damage.

The we had to wait for Liam to tollerate feeds

and gain weight.

Finally he was able to go home again.

But home didn't last long.

After only 2 days of being home we had to rush Liam to Children's Hospital Central CA.

He wasn't tolerating any feeds,

vomiting profusely,

and had trouble breathing.

It was a long wait to figure out what was going on.

At first they thought he has caught a virus.

Soon they realized it wasn't a virus.

Liam needed an Nissen Fundoplicaton and a Gtube.

This stay took 4 weeks.

Last week of October 2011

After the Gtube came many formula changes.

Then it was time for a GJtube.

No one could figure out what was going on.

We went through almost every formula on the market.

March 2012

Things didn't get easier after he got the GJtube.

We went through so many ups and down.

Randomly Liam would start vomiting.

The vomiting would cause pnuemonia resulting in a hospital stay.

This kept on for more than a year.

In July of 2012 Liam's GJtube had come out and we had to use a Gtube until they could get him into an OR.

He did very well.

So well we had canceled the surgery and planned to stick with the Gtube.

On the 5th day of having a Gtube,

Liam suddenly started vomiting.

No one knew why.

He ended up with pnuemonia and hospitalized again.

They put the GJtube back in.

After continued vomiting issues and tollerance issues,

they finally figured out what was going on.

May 2013 the surgical team at Children's figured out the mystery that had been stumping us all for almost 2 years.

The question always asked,

"Why is this happening?"

was finally answered.

It was a miracle!

And a HUGE shock to us all.

The balloon in the Mic-key tube's (G and GJ) was too big for his stomach.

It filled his stomach so he never felt hungry.

The balloon would also hit his pilorex randomly,

causing the vomiting.

We also learned that he has a Hiatal Hernia.

(Still un-touched to this day)

They tried an AMT mini balloon less Gtube.

Within 20 min Liam was hungry.

He started tasting foods.

It was amazing the change.

May 2013

Once he got  this new tube Liam seemed to just thrive and make HUGE strides.

At the end of June 2013 he started walking.

Running.

Growing.

Thriving.

Liam hasn't had a hospital stay since June 2013.

It's been 6 months now.

What is an NG tube?

What is a Gtube?

What does an AMT mini Balloon Less Gtube look like?

What is a GJtube?