Contains possibly squeamish-making stuff about feeding tubes. And… motherfucker, I didn't know you could get bruising INSIDE THE ACTUAL STOMA TRACT. However, I am now finally not bleeding, so I'm counting that as a win. Sat upright for far, far too long today and am really paying for it now - lots more painful than yesterday - but I'm still psyched about having such a tiny, neat little tube now. I've exchanged a good 20-25 cm of dangling tube for a total of literally one centimetre protruding from the stoma. That's awesome. And the extension to hook me up to the pump is right-angled so it runs along at skin level rather than sticking out, and hence a) is generally lower profile and less likely to get yanked but also excitingly b) makes my binders fit a HELL of a lot better. Lessons learned: long-line balloon gastrostomy tubes are a bit shit, gastrostomy buttons really are MUCH better, I wish I'd switched to one straight away in 2009. Oh yeah and the phlebotomy nurse got 3 vials out of me first try today, I was in and out in a total of less than 10 minutes. Given that I literally scar from every needle stick I have ever had, this represents some kind of minor miracle and possibly indicates that said medical vampire is due a medal. Woo!