DH has been home for 3 days now. First full day, the feeding pump wasn't working and it took the company the entire day to bring out a replacement. Second full day, his feeding tube got clogged and we had to go to Urgent Care to get it unplugged. Today, he got a shower and wound dressing changed. When my tremors go away, he will get a haircut. This is a very good day! Thank God!

My ex-husband went through all that with his too when he had his stomach removed. He was on TPN for about 3 months and two different times they had to ship a new pump to us from Atlanta for overnight delivery. When that happened the first time, they sent out a home health nurse to manually set up the flow without the machine & show me how in case it happened again or the pump was delayed. I had to just hook him up early and stay up until it was empty or set my alarm to get up in the middle of the night to disconnect him. They finally took it out because he got an infection. Then they put him on this thing that was a lot the same, but the top of the bag was open and I poured Ensure in it, certain number of cans at a time a certain number of times a day. He didn't like it going in that fast because he felt bloated, so he started insisting on drinking it. By then, he was awake a good part of the day and he quickly got where the liquid diet was driving him nuts. He was so desperate that he got me to put pizza in a blender with some milk once. That was nasty.

I hope things go well for your husband. TPN can be either very trying or a great relief for both the patient and the families.

Renee, I am praying for your husband and you.