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Gastric Cancer and Tube Feeding
Question
My mother has Stage 3 Gastric Cancer. She has already undergone surgery which involved complete removal of her stomach, spleen and 32 lyphmondes that were cancerous. She is able to eat by mouth, but not enough to get the nutrition she needs. She does tube feeding via a J tube nightly using Ensure Plus as recommended by her Nutritionist, because of the high calorie intake. I have issues with this, as Ensure is very high in sugar and everything I have read states that "Cancer feeds off Sugar." If I am incorrect please correct me. I am wanting to juice multiple organic cancer killing vegetable such as broccoli, cabbage, spinach, carrots and put them in her feeding to along with a low sugar weight gainer. My question is, is there any health hazards with all natural nutrition going straight into her intestines? New feeding bags are used nightly, the vegetables would be raw and put into a juicer to extract one the liquid, liquid much thinner than Ensure so I dont see clogging to be an issue. Any input you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Answer
Information about sugar and cancer can be confusing, so it's understandable that you're apprehensive about your mother's sugar intake.
Sugar is a carbohydrate and is required by the body for energy. Sugar feeds every cell in our bodies and is essential for healthy cells to grow. Cancer cells need sugar to grow, just like healthy cells. It is important to remember that there is nothing particular about sugar that "feeds" cancer cells any more than sugar feeds all cells in our body. The key is to ensure that your Mother has a balanced intake of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals to meet her requirements for health. The Nutritionist will be able to explain how these requirements are calculated.
Ensure Plus is an example of a ‘ready to hang' liquid feed that is designed to be administered through a feeding tube. These specialist feeds are intended to provide a balanced spectrum of nutrients and as such, do contain carbohydrate as part of their composition.
I would recommend that you discuss putting anything other than the prescribed feed, medication and water down the feeding tube with the Nutritionist. Administration of anything else is not usually recommended because of the risk of blocking (occluding) the tube. Other things to consider are that:
- The pre-packaged ready to hang feed is a ‘sterile unit' and wherever possible should be used in preference to feed that requires decanting, reconstituting or diluting to minimize the risk of infection.
- It is important that your Mother receives adequate calories and protein to heal and repair. Whilst providing her with liquid from vegetables may provide some micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) it will certainly be low in macronutrients (calories and protein).
- If the tip of your Mothers feeding tube ends in her jejunum (small bowel), sterile water and sterile feed are usually recommended. Any other liquids are not usually suitable due to the increased risk of gastrointestinal infection.
Additionally, syringing or bolusing feed is not often tolerated into the jejunum, and therefore the juice would need to be administered through the feeding pump. Again, I would recommend that you discuss this with the Nutritionist
