I created this web application to solve a problem I noticed over multiple hospital visits.

Sebastian was born with VACTERL association in 2019. His twin, Alaric, came home right away, but Sebastian stayed in the NICU for about a month after a couple major surgeries. The primary operation was to correct his esophogeal fistula. While these surgeries did save his life, Sebastian continues to live with respiratory-related challenges.

Due to Sebastian's health issues, he was diagnosed with "failure to thrive," and a gastronomy tube was recommended so he could receive tube feeds at night in order to gain more weight.

During one of his many hospitalizations of 2022 and 2023, my husband and I often had to assist the night staff with Sebastian's gtube feeds. There were often "too many cooks in the kitchen." For example, the dietician would make a recommendation regarding Sebastian's feed rate (ml/hour), but as his parents, we are aware that we either needed to skip his feeds when he is under the weather or run them very slowly. On top of that, Sebastian also eats breakfast and dinner, so the time constraints often threw a wrench into the plan as well.

Since creating this web app, I have shared it with the tubie communities on Facebook and they have been extremely supportive.

The Tube Feed Rate Calculator is a work in progress, but it has motivated to continue helping others through web development.