About me
Hello fellow tubie or friend thereof! My name is Jessica Chavez and through the process of having tongue cancer twice, I have become almost completely NPO (nil per os Latin for nothing by mouth) and G-tube dependent. I have been horrified by the lack of information and basic support provided to adults transitioning onto living on external nutrition and tube feeds.
Adult feeding tube patients should be taught more than just how to flush before and after. However, we are more often than not, give no information and left to fend for ourselves. We scramble online hoping we find the correct information to survive and hopefully have some quality of life. Over the years we learn things we wish doctors had taught us week one. The problem… the doctors don’t know the answer or what to tell you.
First and foremost this IS NOT a medical information website and you should check with your doctor prior to making any changes. If something feels questionable, goes contrary to what a doctor has told you or what you know about your own situation…. DON’T DO IT! This is intended to be a growing library of information for my fellow tubbies from fellow tubbies, as personal suggestions from lived experiences. We all have different medical situations and tube set ups so not everything is one size fits all. In some cases links will be provided to outside sources, there is no affiliation and follow the information as you see fit for your situation.
I have tried to consolidate and organize reliable information as I come across it. If this helps one person it was worth it.
My specifics
My external feed journey
Oral tongue cancer with partial glossectomy, NG tube installed due to fistulas at 38 years old in August 2023. Experience of having an NG tube was awful and emotionally traumatic. Stopped using after 3 days and had removed at day 6. Did clear liquids for additional 2 weeks to avoid “having tubes come out of me”. Followed with radiation and liquid diet.
Was starting to resume eating some solids, had recurrence at base of the tongue 3 months after radiation and lost ability to swallow solids again by March. Did a liquid diet until I went to start chemotherapy and immunotherapy in June 2024, was down to 91 lbs and could barely swallow liquid anymore. I finally agreed to a G-tube on the condition it was temporary and would be switched to a MIC-KEY as soon as possible.
In June of 2025 I found out the tumor which had taken over my tongue from my tonsils area to my voice box was gone … but so was most of tongue mass with it. What remained was paralyzed with the exception of the very tip of my tongue.
This ment the feeding tube was permanent. I can swallow thin liquids by holding my breath, tilting back, pouring liquid down my throat by gravity, and then coughing afterwards to knock the liquid off my vocal cords. That’s about it… hold your breath, gravity, pour down the back.
This journey has been difficult on so many levels but emotional anguish was exasperated by feeling so lost on how to navigate the simple things in life with a feeding tube. As I finish out my finial year of immunotherapy in the end of 2026, I have looked for ways to use my experience to hopefully make someone else’s journey a little less painful.
Feeding tube and feed style
I have a G-tube, MIC-KEY button, 14French.
I Bolus feed blended real food recipes made at home.
I gravity pour Boost High Calorie via 60ml syringe and extension.
I drink water, iced breve lattes, Thai iced tea, iced coffee with half and half, iced milk tea, Gatorade, or other thin liquids with calories.
TubieLifeHacks 