I sit here laughing because the gauze came off Liam's gtube and he came and showed me. "Mom mom" he said as he lifted his shirt and pointed to his button. "It's ok Liam your fine" I said. Then he goes and shows his dad "dad dad". "Liam put your shirt down no one wants to see that!" I told him playfully. You see Liam is very proud of his button. So proud he will randomly pull his shirt up and show anyone including strangers. Of course it doesn't effect us because we are used to it. But Liam does this for a reaction so we tend to play with him a little.
We playfully crunch our noses and in the silliest voice we say "eeewww Liam no one wants to see that but that thing away" and we proceed to tickle him and we all have a good laugh. This is what I did tonight, only as I said this Lanie walked into the room and says "eeww" because she plays the game as well. Only this time Liam runs toward her with his button in plain view laughing every step. Lanie gives him one of her fake screams and then proceeds to 'run away'. Liam starts laughing harder and chases after her. They ran in circles around the living room laughing until they couldn't breathe. Now you have to realize that Liam is a boy who spends 90% of his time in just a diaper because its hot and that just how he likes it. He is very proud of his button and he also enjoys these games we play.
None of us are grossed out by it in any way at all. In fact these games are what helped him be ok with it because we turned him showing it off into a joke. We take the feeding tube itself very seriously. We never tell him its gross. We only joke with him in a way he gets. The "eww nobody wants to see it" always comes with smiles, tickles and laughter. The feeding tube saved his life and is allowing him to have a more "normal" life.
Without the feeding tube I don't know that he would have lived to see the age of three. How long could he go on TPN without being a shadow of yourself? That would have meant growing up in a hospital completely. With the feeding tube he gets to do what other kids his age do. He gets to play and run and experience all that any other kid his age gets too. Sure we have to wrap his stomach with an ace bandage at times so that his Gtube doesn't get pulled out but it's all worth it.
Liam gets to start pre-school this month. He gets to play in sand, go swimming, swing and climb. He gets to laugh and run and grow. With the feeding tube he's finally thriving. He's finally doing well. Sure it was rocky there for awhile but now his feed is dialed in and he's growing. So thank you to the Ancient Egyptian's who started finding alternative ways to feed people who couldn't eat the traditional way.
We playfully crunch our noses and in the silliest voice we say "eeewww Liam no one wants to see that but that thing away" and we proceed to tickle him and we all have a good laugh. This is what I did tonight, only as I said this Lanie walked into the room and says "eeww" because she plays the game as well. Only this time Liam runs toward her with his button in plain view laughing every step. Lanie gives him one of her fake screams and then proceeds to 'run away'. Liam starts laughing harder and chases after her. They ran in circles around the living room laughing until they couldn't breathe. Now you have to realize that Liam is a boy who spends 90% of his time in just a diaper because its hot and that just how he likes it. He is very proud of his button and he also enjoys these games we play.
None of us are grossed out by it in any way at all. In fact these games are what helped him be ok with it because we turned him showing it off into a joke. We take the feeding tube itself very seriously. We never tell him its gross. We only joke with him in a way he gets. The "eww nobody wants to see it" always comes with smiles, tickles and laughter. The feeding tube saved his life and is allowing him to have a more "normal" life.
Without the feeding tube I don't know that he would have lived to see the age of three. How long could he go on TPN without being a shadow of yourself? That would have meant growing up in a hospital completely. With the feeding tube he gets to do what other kids his age do. He gets to play and run and experience all that any other kid his age gets too. Sure we have to wrap his stomach with an ace bandage at times so that his Gtube doesn't get pulled out but it's all worth it.
Liam gets to start pre-school this month. He gets to play in sand, go swimming, swing and climb. He gets to laugh and run and grow. With the feeding tube he's finally thriving. He's finally doing well. Sure it was rocky there for awhile but now his feed is dialed in and he's growing. So thank you to the Ancient Egyptian's who started finding alternative ways to feed people who couldn't eat the traditional way.
The following are pictures from Liam's Feeding Tube Journey:
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