Coke is a tubie's best friend

Ok now I know what you are thinking, if I can't eat by mouth then how on earth can I stomach coke? Well the answer to that is I can't, just like all other foods coke would put me in more pain and make me sick if I drank more than a swallow by mouth. So now your wondering what I do with the coke, am I right? Let me explain a little bit about feeding tubes and the formula that goes through them before I tell you how I use the coke. The formula that goes through my tube has a tendency to collect together inside my tube and form a "gunky layer", for lack of a better description. I try to do everything in my power to keep that "gunky layer" from forming inside my tube, meaning even though I am on continuous feed I pause my feeds and flush my tube with water several times a day, but even with doing that sometime I can't prevent said "gunky layer" from forming. When the layer has formed it makes it hard for me to give medicines through the tube, flush the tube with water and my pump even alarms because it senses the pressure caused by the layer of gunk. So, here's where the coke falls into this equation, it clears the "gunky layer" right out of the tube. It's work sort of like drain-o but for my feeding tube. All I have to do is flush my tube with about 25 ml of magical coke and cap off my tube so that the coke sits in my tube for about 10 minutes. After that ten minutes I flush my tube with water and bam, no more "gunky layer". Doing this helps my tube stay clear and not get fully clogged because if it did that would mean a trip to the ER and if they can't get it unclogged a placement of a new tube. But don't worry that would require a second surgery it would just require a radiologist because the hole the surgeon made, or stoma can be reused so all the radiologist has to do is place the new tube in the existing stoma and take a picture to make sure everything is in the right place.