The Challenges Of Being Around Food While On A Feeding Tube

   With the cold winter weather, one of the pleasures that comes with it is warm food, like my grandmothers home made vegetable soup with biscuits or cornbread, her delicious beef stroganoff and other delicious meals. Of course, when you have a feeding tube that provides 100% of your nutrition, you are not able to enjoy these delicacies. Because getting my feeding tube wasn't something that I wasn't really prepared for, and was a bit of a shock, going from being able to eat like a normal person, with some modifications, to 100% tube fed, was a challenge to say the least. Although I am allowed to have a milkshake or some ice cream at times, it is still a big adjustment. I don't necessarily miss the act of eating itself, due to the fact that it had become so dangerous, but I do miss being able to taste things. I feel as though I have been able to adjust to the feeding tube well, and still eat dinner with my family, and go out to restaurants, it still hard to believe at times that I am at the point to where I need a feeding tube. I know that the feeding tube is keeping me alive, and helping me as healthy as I can be, and that truly is a blessing. 
      This Thanksgiving will be my first Thanksgiving with a feeding tube, and since food is such a big part of the celebration, I'm a bit nervous. But I'm trying to keep in mind that its not about what were eating, but who we are celebrating with and what we have to be thankful for. I think since that food has been something that dominates our society, and people and the media make food the center of getting together and socializing, this makes it more of a challenge. I have come to learn that food is not what is important when gathering with friends and getting together. When you can't eat, you begin to change how you view things, that once was a big part of your life. I've learned to adapt to my feeding tube as my new normal, and although I do miss eating some of my favorite and delicious dishes, I don't allow the fact that I can't have them to consume my life, and get me down all the time. Sometimes I say that I love my tube, which may sound weird. But what I mean is that I love being able to get my nutrition in a way that is safe for me, and that both me and my family are able to worry about one less thing, knowing that we don't have to worry that every time I eat I could choke or aspirate. And that is truly a wonderful thing, which is why having a feeding tube is such a blessing, and what makes the challenge of being around food, not such a challenge in some ways. 


Joyful Love
         &
Blessings In The Lord
Alexandra K. Acosta