Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 4 i The Blend Magazine

A confession, I wasn’t sure there’d be another issue of The Blend. Not for a lack of love, but because squeezing its production in around day jobs, child-rearing and hand-washing a thousand-odd syringes each day is, in short, a lot. And yet, here we are. Elizabeth Gilbert, the bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love, talks about engaging with a creative side-hustle as you would an extramarital affair. No, you don’t have time for it. It’s not convenient and can be an absolute head-f**k to maintain. But you keep that flame alive because, as Elizabeth says, you’re hot for it. You’re obsessed. You can’t get enough. And this time around, The Blend is especially irresistible. Issue Four launches in tandem with our new digital destination – theblendmag.com – where you’ll find…

Evely got her feeding tube at three months old. It was during what ended up being a 30-day hospital stay battling heart failure and, initially, the G-tube was recommended to give her an opportunity to rest and heal from multiple life-saving heart procedures. Her heart wasn’t well at all – and something as natural as breastfeeding was such hard work for her during that time. The tube allowed her to get the necessary nutrition and hydration without exerting herself, which was crucial for her recovery and overall health. I was just grateful and excited for any intervention that would allow Evely to come home. At first, I saw the G-tube as a temporary measure to give her heart the opportunity to rest, expecting she would eventually resume nursing and start…

POWERED BY // A trusty top-up When Katelyn Armstrong was three months old, she stopped finishing her bottles. At four months old, she had a nasogastric tube placed and, as her mum Chelsea says, things declined from there. “Her formal diagnosis is ‘failure to thrive’ and she struggles to hold nutrition, gain weight and grow typically for her age. At three years old she had her G-tube put in and it was the best thing that ever happened to her.” Now five, Katelyn is looking forward to starting school and loves getting outdoors on her bike. A typical day will see her eating several meals and having PediaSure* Fibre, an Abbott nutrition product, through her tube. “She generally loves to watch a movie, play on her iPad, play cards or…

POWERED BY // The wine-and-diner, Kym Adams Everyone needs to be told about the cut-off extension tube trick. I’m indebted to Sharee Barker for generously sharing this hack – and it truly is a game-changer. When it’s time for a new extension set, because it’s brittle where the clip is, I just cut it at that point and it becomes my ‘straw’. I’m very strategic about where I clip my extension set, so always keep the clip below where the cut mark would be. When I create my blenderised meals, I store them in 500ml jars or plastic containers. Then when it’s time for a feed I just use the modified extension tube to draw the blend into my Medicina ENFit reusable enteral 60ml syringe. For my coffee consumption I…

Celia Chartres-Aris wants you to know that everything is going to be okay. Those six reassuring words are what Celia longed to hear when she received her first feeding tube. Celia is a UK-based, multi-award winning adviser, lobbyist, investor and policy designer. Some would say she’s the ultimate advocate. If you’re wanting to design new legislation or improve equity of representation for disabled people, she’s the person you’re likely to turn to. Apple, LinkedIn and Coca-Cola have all enlisted her help. So too have the UK Government, the European Union and the United Nations. Her work has been recognised by Forbes, The Financial Times, Metro and the BBC and, in 2024, the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 named her the UK’s most influential disabled person. But rewind to 2019 and,…

POWERED BY // Why is ARFID having a moment? There’s lots of buzz around ARFID, with claims that it’s “new”, “rare” or “doesn’t have a treatment yet”. However, it’s more of a name change than a new condition. Paediatric feeding disorders (PFD) already have a well-established, empirically-supported treatment dating back 50 years. The PFD diagnosis is also more comprehensive than ARFID. That said, if you have concerns about your or your child’s eating, you don’t need to decide whether it’s a disorder or which disorder it is, what to label it, or if it is severe enough to seek help. How does ARFID tend to show up in the children you support? Feeding difficulties come in many different forms. A person might only eat a narrow range of foods or…

CURATED BY Ingredients Beef mixture • 15ml Olive oil• 40g Red onion sliced• ½ clove Garlic• 350g Beef mince lean• 1 tsp Taco seasoning Sauce • 180ml Passata• ½ tsp Cumin, ground• ½ tsp Coriander, ground• ½ tsp Smoked paprika• 80g Tortillas (approx. 4 small)• 50g Cheese tasty, grated• 5g Spring onion, raw, chopped• 250ml Sarah’s Chicken Broth (for blending) Method Beef Mixture 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C 2. Add half the olive oil to a large non-stick frying pan over low heat. Add the sliced red onions and stir for 1 minute. Then add the minced garlic and stir for another minute until combined 3. Increase the heat to high and add the beef mince, stirring regularly to break it up. Cook for 5–7 minutes or until the…

CURATED BY // Ingredients • 15ml Peanut oil• ½ Clove garlic, minced• ½ tsp Turmeric powder• 2 tbsp Laksa paste, store bought• 300ml Sarah’s Chicken Broth• 120ml Coconut cream• 10ml Soy sauce• 20g Bok choy, chopped• 200g Udon noodles• 250g Chicken breast, raw• 1 large Boiled egg• 5g Bean sprouts• 5g Spring onion, chopped• 10g Fresh coriander leaves, chopped• 5ml Fresh lime juice Method 1. Prepare the Laksa base: Heat the peanut oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, turmeric, and laksa paste. Sauté for about 1 minute until aromatic 2. Simmer the soup: Pour in the chicken broth, coconut cream and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes 3. Prepare noodles: While the soup…

Debi Brett Photographer, ‘Body Talk’, pg 22, ‘The Sibling Bond’, pg 38, ‘Push It’, pg 62, and ‘Curated Care’, pg 66 For those who are tube-fed or have loved ones in the tubie community, it’s a deeply personal journey that benefits from greater awareness and support. I strive to capture the unique resilience of the tube-fed community alongside the joy and fun of everyday life. Tameka Simmons Writer, ‘Soul Sisters’, page 32 Creating and sharing content about tube-feeding is essential to me as a mum and advocate because it sheds light on the realities, challenges and triumphs of this journey. I hope to normalise tube-feeding, break down stigma and empower other families navigating similar paths. Juliette McAleer Writer, ‘Body Talk’, page 22 Media representation of tube-fed folk was pretty much…

POWERED BY // Iris and Opal Shipley are the finishing-each-other’ssentences kind of sisters. At 18 and 16 years old, respectively, the duo’s banter doesn’t miss a beat – even when speaking from their separate cities in Ohio. Iris lives in Cincinnati, where she’s studying acting, while Opal is in their hometown of Columbus, applying to colleges with her heart set on medical school. Recent years have inspired Opal’s career aspirations. In early 2020, sudden and serious illness saw her spending months in hospital, requiring years of nasal tubes and, eventually, a surgically placed gastrojejunostomy (GJ) and gastrostomy (G) tube. The whole Shipley family – including Iris and their younger sister, now-14-year-old June – was shaken by Opal’s rapidly declining health. But even in the darkest of times, they made moments…

Ingredients • 3 scoops vanilla-flavoured PediaSure* powder• 1 small/medium onion, finely diced• 4 rashers middle bacon, roughly diced• 6-12 button mushrooms, sliced• 1 tsp minced garlic• 1 tbsp butter• 1 tbsp olive oil• ½ cup thickened cream• 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese• 1 packet of your favourite pasta Method 1. Begin boiling water to cook pasta, following packet instructions. 2. Finely dice the onion and roughly dice the bacon. 3. Slice button mushrooms, adjusting quantity to your preference. 4. In a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat, add butter, olive oil, and garlic; cook for a few minutes until fragrant. 5. Add onion and bacon, stirring until bacon is browned and onions are translucent. 6. Add mushrooms, stir, and cover for 3 minutes to allow mushrooms to sweat, enhancing the…

POWERED BY // Twenty years ago, Peter Macaione had radiation treatment for head and neck cancer. “In those days it was a terrible, scattergun approach to radiation,” says the 62-year-old musician. “Just target the whole area and hopefully get it, you know?” Since then, the lead guitarist has struggled to speak and swallow. Having developed a chronic lung condition from food entering his airways, in 2023, Peter went for a speech therapy appointment at The Wesley Hospital in Brisbane – and came home with a gastrostomy (G) tube. “I wasn’t eating and I was losing weight, big time,” says Peter. “All of a sudden I was in the emergency department and the gastroenterologist came in and said, ‘Look, we have no choice, we’re going to have to put a feeding…

Eight-year-old Sutton Short had never seen anyone with a feeding tube before she had her nasogastric (NG) tube placed in December 2023. The Florida-based youngster was more concerned about making it on to her dream elite cheerleading team, the Biker Babes, as a “flyer” – the athlete lifted into the air during a pyramid or stunt. Sutton made the team, feeding tube in place, and now has the goal of competing in state and then world championships. “It feels like a dream and it feels amazing,” says Sutton when we speak to her and her mum, Kali. Before having her NG tube placed, Sutton was worried about how it would feel and whether she could continue doing what she loved. “I was like, ‘What is it going to look like?’…

POWERED BY // Their multidisciplinary approach – a combination of dietetics, speech and occupational therapy, and psychology – draws a complex crowd to Kids Feeding Specialists in Sydney. Poised to tackle a vast spectrum of feeding challenges, once a family is in their care, this team pays as much attention to their emotional state as their nutrition, feeding skills and development. I “I just felt there wasn’t a safe space in the private health sector for children with complex feeding difficulties – and families weren’t getting the specialist multidisciplinary support they required at such a stressful time in their lives,” says founder Simone Wright. Feeding difficulties are common in children – all the more so for children with disability and infants born prematurely. A senior paediatric dietitian with more than…

CURATED BY // Ingredients • 200g Greek yoghurt• 50g Rolled oats, uncooked – ground• 20g Medjool dates (pitted)• 50g Avocado• 50g Frozen mixed berries• 170g Banana (frozen is fine)• 50g Flaxseeds, ground• 400ml Full cream milk Method 1. Add all ingredients in order to a blender 2. Blend on high until smooth and creamy 3. Adjust the milk if you’d like a thinner consistency and consume immediately Total 1002g Nutrition Information Average quantity per 100ml Calories 119 cal Fat 5.3g Saturates 1.7g Sugars 8.4g Sodium 32mg Protein 4g Carbs 12.3g Fibre 2.9g…

CURATED BY // Ingredients • 350g Cauliflower• 180g Chickpeas• 70ml Extra virgin olive oil• 1 Clove garlic (crushed)• 5g Smoked paprika• 3g Cumin ground• ½ tsp Chili powder• 20 ml Lemon juice• 20g Fresh coriander• 100g Avocado• 250 ml Sarah’s Chicken Broth Method 1. In an oven preheated to 220°C, toss cauliflower and chickpeas with olive oil, garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder and lemon juice. Roast for 20 minutes or until tender and lightly golden. Allow to cool 2. In a high-powered blender, add roasted ingredients including juices from pan, coriander, avocado, chicken broth. Blend until smooth and creamy Makes 3-4 litres, depending on cooking duration. Total 1000g Nutrition Information Average quantity per 100g Calories 116 cal Fat 8.6g Saturates 1.4g Sugars 1.6g Sodium 126mg Protein 2.7g Carbs 5.5g…

CURATED BY // Ingredients • 20ml Olive oil• 300g Pork loin, thinly sliced• 30g Red onion• 100g Cooked brown rice• 30g Baby corn• 50g Broccoli florets• 30g Carrot, thinly sliced• 40g Capsicum, thinly sliced• 30g Snow peas, thinly sliced• 1 tbsp Soy sauce• 3 tbsp Hoisin sauce• 15 ml Sesame oil (optional)• 300 ml Sarah’s Chicken Broth to blend Method 1. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced pork and red onion and cook until browned, about 5–7 minutes 2. Remove the pork and set aside. In the same pan, add the brown rice, baby corn, broccoli, carrot, capsicum, snow peas, and until tender-crisp, about 3–4 minutes. 3. Add the pork back to the pan along with the soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame…

POWERED BY // Our more seasoned readers might remember when, in 1989, Andre Agassi immortalised the line “image is everything” in an ad campaign for Canon cameras. He was wearing a lion-manestyle mullet wig at the time but, nevertheless, the then-rising tennis star uttered a universal truth. Image is powerful. It has an enormous impact on how we perceive and engage with people, brands and, in the context of our own bodies, how we feel about ourselves. In the decades since Agassi’s line, cameras have made their way into smartphones, social media has run wild and rates of body image dissatisfaction have increased worldwide*. Within this culture, in the enteral feeding community, research** tells us that people with feeding tubes can be “less satisfied with their body image, reported lower…

Garrett Taira’s medical history is, in a word, complex. Born in Maryland, USA, with chronic intestinal pseudo obstruction, he’s required daily IV nutrition, multiple hospitalisations and surgeries throughout this life. On total parenteral nutrition (TPN) from when he was nine months old, Garrett received his first gastrostomy (G) tube at age seven. In 2010, at 18, he suffered agonising pain caused by perforations – holes – in his intestines. After emergency Ileostomy surgery, Garrett woke to find his colon, large intestine and almost 2m of small intestine had been removed. What remained of his small intestine had been brought through his abdominal wall, allowing his body’s waste to travel through a stoma, into an ostomy bag. In the midst of these extraordinary health challenges, in high school, Garrett found a…

As stomal therapists and paediatric nurses, we have lots of success managing leaking devices, healing broken skin, recommending products and ensuring correct sizing of tube-feeding devices. However, we regularly have issues knowing if our clients really have a PEG, or not! “PEG” is a term often used to describe all feeding buttons when in reality, it describes only one way of inserting a feeding tube. We’ve put together a short, nonexhaustive list of tube-feeding terms which may help with a more accurate description of what you or your child has. Here goes: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) A method of insertion for a gastric feeding tube into the stomach. It’s often performed by a gastroenterologist in a two-step procedure and involves inserting a feeding tube endoscopically (through the mouth). The tube…

CURATED BY // Ingredients • 700g Left-over food scraps, frozen• 4-6 Chicken frames, organic, cooked• ⅓ cup Olive oil• 2 large Brown onions, with skins• 4 medium Carrots• 4 stalks Celery• 700g Broccoli, heads and stalks• 400g Pre-washed spinach• Handful Sweet potato skins, cooked or uncooked• 5 stalks Rosemary• 1 bunch Thyme• 1 bunch Parsley• 2 tsp Salt• 4 litres Water• ½ cup Apple cider vinegar Method 1. Collect leftover greens and veggie scraps and put in freezer until needed for broth 2. Preheat oven to 220°C 3. Coat chicken frames in olive oil and roast in oven until golden 4. Add all veggies, herbs and salt to a large slow cooker 5. Add up to 4 litres of water to veggies and herbs 6. Add cooked chicken frames, including…