Blake’s MiniONE^® / Success Stories

My name is Kimberly. My son Blake is an extremely active preschooler and he uses the AMT MiniONE® Non-Balloon Button.

I was an elementary educator before Blake was born. Soon after his birth, my husband and I realized that Blake was going to be a full-time job all on his own, so I decided to leave my job to be with Blake. Since staying home with him, I now teach classes in the NICU on how to make medical binders, serve on the Children’s Hospital Parent Board at Virginia Commonwealth University, and I also lead the Feeding Tube support group at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond.

Blake was diagnosed with Severe Gastroparesis as well as HyperKetosis, which made having a G-Tube a necessity. He was originally fitted with a MIC-KEY® style balloon device, however, Blake’s stomach experiences excessive acid build up causing balloon devices to fail regardless of the brand as we did try multiple devices. The balloon devices would come out in the middle of the night, leading to monthly ED trips to dilate his stoma site. We needed to find a better solution.

We made the decision to switch Blake to the MiniONE® Non-Balloon Button. We made this change because we no longer had to worry about a balloon failing. The internal bumper keeps the tube in place without the continual fear of the acid causing problems.

Over the last two and a half years with the MiniONE® Non-Balloon Button, Blake has had no hypergranulation tissue! We haven’t had to use silver nitrate at all with this tube because it doesn’t rub or cause pain, even when he’s active. I couldn’t find a better tube to keep up with his life style!

My kid is amazing. He goes to preschool, loves to play outdoors, ride his bike, and spend time with his brother and sister. We are so grateful for the innovation that is this specific type of tube and will continue to use it as long as he needs!