Hi everyone. I'm 24 years old and was born with gastroschisis. I was placed on a feeding and fed through it most of my life till i turned 18 and was cut off from SSI. So for the next 6 years My feeding tube wasn't in use. I'm able to eat but underweight probably, or atleast on the very thin side ( 100lbs about, and 5 ' 7).
Well back in December of last year i slipped on some ice on the way home and the tube came out. I wasn't able to find it and didn't have another replacement. I'd always been told it would just close up and figured that since I hadn't been using it I'd just let it close up. Well it started leaking and I eventually got an apointment ( after playing phone and apointment tag with different docs) about 2 months ago. He stitched it up and used sodium nitrate to burn it so it would heal, but it hasn't. It still leaks pretty heavily with every meal and with anything I drink.
The surgeon that stitched it up seems to just think that re stitching it will work, even though it hasn't been.
It's starting to get annoying and get to me.The stomache acid has burned all around the area of the hole to the point where my skin is raw and sometimes it even bleeds.
I've read online that I might need surgery but I don't know what to say to the doc. The tube was originally placed when I was 12 so I had it for a very long time, and it dosen't seem to be healing. Leaks so bad I have to change the paper towel I have covering it frequently and it stains my shirts rather quickly.
Wouldn't my actual stomache need to be stitched up as well? Isn't that stomache acid irritating the insides aswell where it's not supposed to get too?
He stitched a gauze ontop last time and it's getting kind of smelly and nasty looking.
Not sure what to do. No insurance so any surgery will be expensive probably. Sorta miss being on SSI, I seem to just get shuffled from doc to doc and no one answers my questions.
I always wanted to not have a feeding tube anymore, but I didn't know I'd have to deal with this.