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Every day, usually around two in the afternoon, I "hook up". In order to hook up, I need several things including a syringe, my formula, a tube feeding bag, my tube feeding backpack, and my Kangaroo pump. 1. After I gather my supplies, I flush my j-tube out with water. 2. I open a fresh bag for my formula. This bag is plastic, and is kind of like an IV bag, but made especially for tube feeding formula. There is nothing in it. 3. I open three cans of Ultracal, which is the type of formula I use. Each can has 250 calories and 30% of almost every other nutrient and vitamin my body needs. It is like Ensure, only it has not been made for oral consumption. It does not smell good, and I have never had a desire to taste it. I wish they would make chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream smelling tube feeding formula, because I can't believe this stinky stuff goes into me. 4. I pour both cans into my bag and prime the tubing. Two cans fill my bag halfway. I have to make sure I close the top of the bag well, because I am known for spilling it. 5. I take my bag and attach it to a holder. I also put my feeding pump into the holder. Then I pull the tubing around the outside of the holder and connect it to the pump. 6. I stick the holder into my portable backpack. I thread the tubing through a hole in the side. 7. I attach the end of the tubing from the bag to the end of my J-tube. I clear the volume from the night before, make sure the rate is set at 70 ml. per hour, then hit start. 8. If it starts beeping, I check to make sure the pump is set in completely, and that there are no kinks or blockages. Once everything is working well, I zip up the backpack.
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