Push It
Kym Adams photographed by Debi Brett Photograhy
Syringes are a tube-feeder’s best friend – but have you mastered their full potential? It’s time to take the plunge with these tried and tested tips from our community.
The wine-and-diner, Kym Adams
Everyone needs to be told about the cut-off extension tube trick. I’m indebted to Sharee Barker for generously sharing this hack – and it truly is a game-changer. When it’s time for a new extension set, because it’s brittle where the clip is, I just cut it at that point and it becomes my ‘straw’.
I’m very strategic about where I clip my extension set, so always keep the clip below where the cut mark would be. When I create my blenderised meals, I store them in 500ml jars or plastic containers. Then when it’s time for a feed I just use the modified extension tube to draw the blend into my Medicina ENFit reusable enteral 60ml syringe.
For my coffee consumption I have the perfect Keep Cup for an espresso and once the coffee has cooled – usually with the help of some added cold water – I just pour the coffee into the barrel of my syringe allowing it to gravity-feed into my stomach.
There are three options for wine consumption. Mostly, I just make a blend of wine, cheese, pâté and crackers, then draw it into the syringe like a typical blend. Another option is pouring it straight from the bottle into a syringe barrel and allowing the wine to be gravity fed. The less bogan version would be putting the wine in a jug.
In the photo you can see me finding a solution to only having access to a glass of wine. I drew it into the syringe via the modified extension tube, then I syringed that into the barrel of another syringe and let it gravity-feed into my stomach.
The systematic goddess, Grecian Martin
Riley does push her own syringes sometimes – we always ask her if she would like to – but the majority of the time she is in the middle of playing or reading so we usually do it. She’s hilarious when she says: “Hurry up, Mum! Let me push it faster!” She just wants to go go go!
I love using my Strucket straining bucket to help drain, dry and store our Medicina ENFit syringes. We also have the Boon Grass drying rack to help dry them after washing. As we travel, we keep a set of clean syringes in a hard pencil case with some spare tubing in there, too.
Riley has three sisters and our youngest, Maisee, has been obsessed with pushing Riley’s medications and flushes since she was a toddler. She’ll run from the other side of the house to help us!
The ultimate upcycler, Eliana Joseph
I have always taught my son, Luke, about the purpose of his feeding tube and like to encourage him to be independent with it. Luke doesn’t have the strength to push a blend through a syringe but he definitely gives it a good try, especially when he wants to finish and move on to something else! He prefers to inject water, as it’s easier for him to push.
We like to use the Medicina ENFit 60ml reusable enteral syringes and to help them last longer, I spray the plunger with olive oil spray so they glide easily into the syringe. Once their time has come, we have some fun in the backyard using old syringes as water pistols.
For Luke’s first birthday we created our own version of a ‘cake smash’ photo shoot at home and filled syringes with dyed yoghurt for him to paint a canvas with.
This story was created in partnership with InterMed Medical, Australia’s supplier of Medicina syringes. Shop the full range.