06/14/2026
The Story of Boogie, Chapter 8
Not long after Boogie began lapping up nutrition on his own, his esophageal port became infected. We managed it for a period of time with antibiotics but eventually we knew we needed to remove it. Our options were to remove it and replace it (which would require another surgery for Boogie), or remove it and see how Boogie managed “eating” on his own. We weren’t quite prepared to remove it this soon as Boogie wasn’t fully proficient eating on his own. He’d need to be able to eat quite a bit of food on his own to maintain his health. But, he was improving each day. We decided to take a gamble for at least a few days to see how he did without his feeding tube. If he couldn’t maintain his weight, we’d have to place a new esophageal tube.
From that point on, the staff worked hard to feed Boogie around the clock. It was a much longer process to syringe feed him by mouth than it was to tube feed him because it required Boogie being willing to eat! No one worked harder with Boogie than our practice manager, Sam. She found the easiest way to get him to eat was to spoon feed him, so spoon feed him she did. Even if that meant doing so while Boogie lounged in her chair, while she spoon fed him from the floor. This boy had us wrapped around his little paws, and we couldn’t care less. 💝
