Secretions around Mic-Key site

[Niff]

Mackenzie's had secretions around her Mic-Key site since she got it at the beginning of February. I'm assuming this is normal. About how long did it take for your kids to stop oozing?

[TommysDad]

Tommy had a cath in place until the stoma site healed. Everything was stitched so nice and neat, we really didn't see too much oozing ever. Untill...we got transfered to a different children's hospital and the ditz nurse ripped out the cath, measured for a g-tube, ran to the equipment room, and pulled out a 12 french instead of a 14 french. When we pointed out her mistake, she told us the stoma would heal around the 12 french in time!!! It took about 2 months for the oozing to stop and for Tommy to recover! nurse!!! I can't believe I didn't throw a fit to get it corrected or at least have her reported!!!

We also notice the oozing due to the fact that the water in the balloon has decreased for one reason or another. Have you verified the water content in the balloon lately?

~Maggie

[Livi's_mama]

Something that's really helped with Livi's has been using a small amount of steroid cream (anti itch cream) and then cutting a slice (just to the middle) of a round makeup sponge and placing it under the gtube.

It helps dry up the area but also soaks up any drainage.

Livi's surgeon thought I was an absolute genius for using a makeup sponge....LOL...I found that tip online somewhere though.

[Ainsley's Mom]

Hmmm. That's a good test of my failing memory. I'm thinking it was about a month for it to heal. We always keep a 2 pack of slit dressings under the button. If it ever starts to look a little weepy we apply Desetin (orginal sticky formula) and that clears things up. The surgery nurses recommended that. So I'm thinking you should start to see it dry up any day. Still I'd check the balloon just to be sure it's full enough. Then if it doesn't stop in another week or two I would put a call in. Or do you have a post-op appointment? I think we had one 1 month post surgery.

[Wooders80]

If I remember correctly (was over 2 years ago) I don't think the gastrostomy stoma was ever really oozy after placement. It's only ever been a bit infected once, and we used Fucidin cream on it (fusidic acid). Does it seem to hurt when you clean it? That can be a sign of infection.

[Caty]

Nate's oozed for a long time but I can't remember how long. He ended up having a lot of granulation tissue and after that was burned off, it got better. I was going through his baby clothes the other day and a lot of his onesies have the green stain over the g-tube area. Nothing ever really got it out and I'm surprised I got sentimental over g-tube gunk!

It still oozes from time to time. Sometimes it's the amount of water in the balloon and sometimes it's because he's getting sick.

[kadiera]

We had a bit of drainage before Alexander's mic-key went in (the plastic ring around the tube was irritating his skin), but since the button, virtually nothing, even though it's popped out twice since the first of the year from not having enough fluid in the balloon.

We keep a "drainage sponge" (gauze with a slit and little hole) under his button now for the occasional drip, and to help protect his skin.

We used bacitracin on his site when it was red and irritated.

[babybear]

Gabriel's had his tube in for over a year now and it still leaks! I have to change the dressing 3x/day. I've had several doctors look at it, and they all agree that nothing is wrong and the tube size is correct, he just gets leakage. We use the split 2x2 IV sponges and tape the slit so Gabriel can't 'wiggle' out of the gauze. The worst part is the smell; if I don't change the gauze as soon as I notice leakage, Gabriel gets this horrible smell! I also use bacitracin for redness.

[twintotwin]

One of my boys' has chronic drainage from his GT. We keep a split gauze on it around the clock. You can also use Balmex as a barrier cream to keep it from irritation. The oozing is usually acidy.