"You can't eat for 3 months?!" "Nope."
"Oh man, I couldn't do that."
In Canadian paediatrics, one of the most popular treatments for Crohn's disease is naso-gastric tube feeding. Basically, this means a thin, flexible tube is put up your nose and threaded down to your stomach. The left overs are taped to your face, and connected to a pump and then easily digestible solutions are sent down into your body.
The theory behind this is perfect. The solutions (similar to Boost and Ensure) give usually underweight, malnourished kids a huge boost in calories and vitamins, helping them recover from a flare. The solutions are so easy to digest that it gives the digestive system a chance to take a break and heal after being inflamed.
But as good as this sounds, it's a brutal treatment option. I would know. I've been on tube feedings twice. You have to commit to not eating solid food for three months. You are allowed a finite amount of "clear" liquids to curb your cravings; these include chicken broth with no green bits, water, gatorade, light pop, clear popsicles, and three clear hard candies a day.
This honestly doesn't sound too bad, you're not hungry when you're on the feeds, but you feel socially isolated. You don't realize how much of our lives revolve around food. It's everywhere. I missed eating dinner with my family so much. It was brutal.
Another thing is that the tube feeding is very visible. People stare at you, people ask you what is on your face, one recently immigrated Iranian student in my high school thought my pump was a bomb...
You have to leave the pump hooked up about 22 hours a day, so it took a bit of time getting used to having to carry it every where and listen to it while I slept.
Also, because I was in my teens when I was on the feeds, I was expected to insert my own tube, when it had to be changed once a month. That's right, I now, have the skills to measure out tube, and feed it up my nose, and then down into my stomach. No, it's not easy, no it's not fun, yes, you gag.
But I think the worst part about tube feeding for me was the fact that it didn't work. I was still symptomatic, and just plain miserable.
I made it through a couple of months each time, but it was NOT a good treatment choice for me.
