It's always sad when one of our favorite prints are discontinued, and this winter we are saying "See Ya Later" to THREE of our fan favorite prints:  The Pink Owl, Superman Shield, and patchwork John Deere.

As of this weekend, there are a very limited quantity of belts and coolers available in the Pink Owl and Superman prints.  We will be able to fill orders for Gtube Pads, Connection Wraps, and Trach Pads in all three prints on a first-come, first-served basis.  

Stay tuned for the addition of new spring prints - coming soon to TeamRusscher.com and our shop on Etsy!

Great news!  Our fan-favorite Feeding Tube Cooler Bags are now available for purchase from TeamRusscher.com!

We have been working hard uploading products to our new shop here on our homepage and appreciate your patience!  We hope to soon have all of our great Team Russcher G-Tube items online!

Check out our new Team Shop!  

When you look through our website and our shop on Etsy you'll see that the majority of our items are Custom Made.  

What's the big deal about Custom Made?  

Well... We'll tell you :)

Custom made allows us to make the Gtube Belt you've ordered fit like a glove.  We allow you to order the exact length you need (with a little Room to Grow if needed).  We allow you to customize your width too!  For Adult belts, this option is found right on the order form in our Etsy shop.  For all others - send us a message! Trying to cover separate G and J tubes?  We can do that.  Is your tube off-center due to your anatomy?  We have you covered. We love being able to fit every tubie!

Custom made let's you pick your favorite print!  We confess: we have a huge fabric stash. Much larger than what is listed on our order forms.  And it changes all the time!  If you don't find exactly what you are looking for on our listings we are happy to try to find that PERFECT print that will make your Tubie (or yourself!) smile each and every time they see it.  We want your feeding tube accessories to be FUNCTIONAL AND FUN to use.  Custom orders allow us to do that!

Custom made allows you to order 20 Gtube pads and specify exactly what prints you want.  10 of one print and 10 of another?  You've got it.  4 sets of 5?  Sure!  20 different pads so you are sure to have one for every possible mood (or outfit).  WHY NOT!?  You can't do that with most ready-to-ship shops.  And you for sure can't get them in different thicknesses too!  

I LOVE getting to know you!  I do!  I love when you include a small part of your story in a private message or in your order notes.  I love knowing your sweet baby's name, what challenges she might be facing, what victories she's had!  And I love putting together the PERFECT Gtube Gear Set just for her.  I was a Tubie Mom.  I get it.  And I'm rooting for you.

But Custom Made items do have their drawbacks.  

I have to get great input from you, the customer, to make sure your items arrive exactly as you've envisioned them.  For items like coolers and belts gathering this information is usually quite simple:  you only need to select your choices from the drop-down menus as you place your order.  For other items, like our 12 pack Value G-Tube Pad Sets, you may also need to give me some print guidelines outside of the ordering menus (this is done in the "Message to Seller" sections during checkout).  Ready-to-ship items definitely win for ease-of-ordering because sizes and patterns are determined for you.

And the big one - TIME.  Custom Orders take time to create!  Currently, custom orders are shipping between 2 and 3 weeks from the time of order in the order they are received.  We do realize that things come up in the Special Needs world - new surgeries, new medical equipment, new feeding regimens - and you don't always have 2-3 weeks to wait.  We've been there.  To make sure we can process these immediate needs as fast as possible without getting behind on other orders we're happy to be able to offer a "Rush Order" option in our Etsy Shop (and soon here on teamrusscher.com).  Essentially, the Rush Order fee allows you to skip the line and get your order within a week!  You can learn more about this great option HERE.   

So there you have it - all the reasons why we love providing you with the highest quality custom made Gtube Gear.  Thank you so much for allowing us to be a small part of your feeding tube journey.

-MR

It's Feeding Tube Awareness Week, and Team Russcher is thrilled to support the efforts of the Feeding Tube Awareness Foundation and their mission to support feeding tube families and raise awareness!  

If you are new to the feeding tube community, or if you are in need of troubleshooting help, family education, or other related resources please check out the Foundation's website at: WWW.FEEDINGTUBEAWARENESS.ORG

In honor of Feeding Tube Awareness Week and our Tubie friends and family Team Russcher is offering 15% off all orders of $5 or more from our Etsy shop!

TEAMRUSSCHER.ETSY.COM
CODE: FTAW16
Offer valid through Feb 13 only!

This blog entry was originally posted to our site on 8/22/15.  

There are two main benefits of using coolers for G-Tube feeds that every tube-feeding family should know about.  These are Food Safety and Convenience.

​FOOD SAFETY

When kept at temperatures between 55-75 degrees, Abbot Nutrition provides the following guidelines on formula hang times on their website:

"Ready-to-use feedings that have been prepared using clean techniques to decant them into administration containers may be hung safely at the bedside for eight to 12 hours....
Hang time for reconstituted powdered products for use in adults should be limited to four hours.  In all cases, label instructions should be followed to ensure sanitary handling techniques."

For families that bolus feed using a pump these hang times may be irrelevant - often bolus feeds are done rather quickly.  For other families, like ours, food safety was still an issue with bolus feeds. 
Allison had a very sensitive stomach, and her feedings ran for as long as 2 hours before we switched her G-Tube to a GJ-Tube and started running continuous feeds.  We experienced clumping and "browning" of formula in used tubing in as little as an hour on warm summer days. 

For all formula types, Abbot Nutrition increases these times to at least 24 hours upon refrigeration.  Cooler bags can provide a refrigerated environment with the use of ice packs and provide important protection from food spoilage.


CONVENIENCE

Rigorous feeding schedules, especially during the night, are exhausting.  For months we fed Allison 2 hours on, 1 hour off.  Our powdered formula required us to rinse the bag between feedings, refill and reprime for every feed to comply with the 4 hour hang time requirement.  It was hard.

When I made our first cooler bag our life became so much easier!  We were able to mix multiple feedings at a time and eliminate the need to rinse and prime the bag after each one.  We simply unhooked the bag tubing from her extension and tucked it up in the cooler to store in between meals.  Later, when we switched to a GJ-Tube, continuous feeds were a breeze.

We've recently switched to a new blog host!  Please view our blog archives at: teamrusscher.blogspot.com

We will be importing our popular Team Russcher blog posts here in the near future!