My son, Troy, 23 years old, who had MD - Duschenes, has had a feeding tube now for approx. 6 months. He's doing fine overall. Much more hydrated and nourished than he's been over the last 18 months. Biggest question I have: We are starting to notice a greenish or yellowish residue inceasing slightly in his clear feeding tube. Tried to dislodge initially by rolling tube between fingers but did not come off. Should this be of major concern? Does anyone know what this is or how to get rid of it? Trying not to go see a doctor about it if possible. He really doesn't like going. Although, we will if we need to. Thanks, JT

Hi JT,
My name is Ananth and I have been on PEG feed (into the stomach) for the last eight years and in between have had the feeding tube in and out through my nose. I am not sure which tube your son is using. I too used have this problem and found the easiest way to clean the tube was to use a syringe with water and squirt it in and then suck it out.
However, do note this is strictly my own experience and I am not a doctor by any means. You will find a lot of others on the site who have cleaned their tubes in other ways.
Try it once - you have nothing to loose.
Take care and say hi to Troy.
Warm regards,
Ananth

Dear Ananth, I almost PM'd you on this one when I saw but then I saw you post

Dear HelpingDad,
Though I have not been posting too much - I felt I could do justice to this particular question - with eight years experience to back me up. I used to post a lot earlier but somehow just dont find the time these days with so many things happening together in my life.
However, do feel free to PM me or write anything on the forum that I may be help of to anyone.
Take care to you and all on rdoc.
Ananth

I undersatnd one can not post all the time but I wouls like to say thank you to you (and of course to all others) teh past posts and stories have REALLY helped me help my dad - your story was one of the first that i read I feel so close to folk on here I have and probably never will meet but will be forever grateful.

Is it inside the tube or outside? inside - it could be stomach bile backing up - bicarbonate of soda (just a little)and water or cola, flushed down the tube helps to clean.
If it's outside then there may be a bit of an infection at the entrance, epecialy if its also red and sore.

Thanks for posting. I should have noted that his feeding tube is in his stomach. The area where the tube enters his skin is fine. We clean and change the dressing everyday, worse case sometimes every 2nd day, but that's not often. Again, we do flush the tube with regular tap water before we feed and after we feed. It just seems there is some residue that always gets inside the tube greenish/yellowish and seems it is increasing slightly, likes it's growing some.

We will try what you suggested, but if anyone else has any experiences with this and has a resolution suggestion, we would like to hear from you. Thank you all. James (JT)