Saturday, July 03, 2010

My new best friend...

Otherwise known as KayTar's portable enteral feeding pump.

Zevex Enteralite Infinity.


I love this thing. KayTar loves this thing. Josh loves this thing. BubTar is even excited about it and had me train him on how to work it. He is also campaigning for his own hydration pack now, because he wants a cool backpack like KayTar.


We were out of the house from 10:30am-6pm today. In that time span, she needs two 8 ounce Pediasure feeds. In the past, we would be lucky is she drank 1/2 a Pediasure by mouth when we were out and about...to accomplish that, we'd have to say, "KayTar, drink." "KayTar, you have to drink your Pediasure!" "KayTar, don't forget your Pediasure." We'd plan our day around being home in time for her feeds most of the time. Today, we were out for HOURS and she was free to be active, participate in everything we did and she still got in two full feeds, and she also ate with us at meal time. It was awesome.



KayTar has grown so well that now she needs more calories and carbohydrates to keep up. She has recently gone from 3 Pediasure feeds to 4. Now that we have the pump, we can slow feed her the 4th while she sleeps. With bolus feeding, we couldn't do that.

The pump is very light. It comes with a small backpack that KayTar can easily wear while we are out and it also attaches to an IV pole for stationary/at home feeds. It is not gravity fed (unlike the Kangaroo Joey) when in the backpack so KayTar can do anything in it, even somersaults, and it would keep right on going. The programming is very intuitive and we haven't run into any problems with it. It was even covered by insurance. If you are looking for a portable pump, we highly recommend this one!

5 comments:

Gizabeth Shyder said...

Reminds me of my best friends insulin pump. She is a doctor. It liberated her, even though she resisted the idea for a long time.

natalie said...

That's awesome! How incredible that KayTar can have so much freedom!

Oh, when we were in Orlando, there was a father and his son wearing something called Camel Packs. They appeared to be filled with water and were camo colored. Perhaps that would fulfill BubTar's request for a cool backpack of his own.

sheree said...

VERY cool! The possibilities are endless! :)

Anonymous said...

This is so ironic to me as we loathed the feeding pump! I much, much preferred bolus feedings and cried when they were no longer an option.

Glad you & the family are seeing such success =)

Deb, i obsess said...

Not only does Kaytar look gloriously glowy BUT she can do somersaults in that thing? And it's kicking ass for your whole family?

I WILL BUILD A BRONZE STATUE IN ITS HONOR.

p.s. YAY!