Feeding Tube Fitness

My name is Hannah and I am exclusively feeding tube fed. I have had a feeding tube and tracheostomy tube since I was born, 28 years ago. For the first 24 years of my life I lived off Pedia-Sure and Ensure. When I was 24, some friends urged me that there had to be a healthier way. Ensure was sustaining me, but I would not say I was healthy. Due to a medical condition, there are many cysts in my head and neck and they would get infected 1-2 times a month due to all the processed and synthetic ingredients in Ensure.

My transition off Ensure was not an easy one. I was working with a super reckless chiropractor and I lost a significant amount of weight in a very short time. I had an incredible tribe of friends who spent hours with me doing research and finding a real food blended diet that worked for me. There was a lot of trial and error, but I slowly gained my weight back and I haven’t looked back ever since. That was 5 years ago and I’ve had 5 infections in this time period, instead of 1-2 every month. I am healthier than ever, my blood work is better, I am able to intentionally move my body every day, and my immune system is better than anyone ever imagined.

The process may have been messy and hard, but eating whole, raw, healthy foods is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. They say ignorance is bliss and I had no idea what my body was capable of, or what health really could look like for me, while I was on Ensure. That picture of health is nothing compared to my health now and I am so grateful.

This inspiring story was submitted by a human named Hannah!