Tubie Friend

My cousin has a group that is making and donating Tubie Friends to children with feeding tubes. Well Chantelle has had her Ellie doll since she was tiny. In fact this doll started out bigger than she was and when she got her doll they were about the same size. This doll has been through the ringer with Ellie. The doll has always had a feeding tube. While Ellie was oxygen the doll had its own nasal canula as well. At one point the doll the had the feeding tube, nasal canula, pulse-ox, sleep apnia probes, then after her sleep study the doll came home with cardiac stickers everywhere as Children's "hooked" her doll up her a sleep study too. She would NOT let those stickers be pulled off so eventually months afterwards we finally had snuck the last cardiac sticker off the doll with her realizing it.

Today she was SO excited to help make a new Tubie Friend for herself to take with us tomorrow to show to her new GI team at John Hopkins Children's Hospital to see if we can help get some of these friends spread around this area too. Here are some pictures from making her new Tubie Friend today.

 pushing the button made unusable through the toys belly and "blood" as she calls it

 Ellie helping find the feeding tube stem and drop a washer on the button stem

 picking the perfect tie down

 bending the stem and securing the button, washer and tie down in place (this combo makes the button useless, and washer keeps the bent stem of the button in the new friend)

 last step take a few stitches under the button on the top and bottom to make sure the fabric is secured

 pull the strings in the back (Build a Bear left this step undone for us and told me how to secure and finish the toys) and tie in a good knott

 All done!!!

 (see the monkey playing peek a boo? that will be the next toy we add a button to) All done! see the new Tubie Friend? Oh and one little princess getting so big who is so proud of her work and helping with her new friend.

 Yes holding both Friends with a tube and one waiting for a tube...

 Not sure the exact name on this new Tubie Friend yet as it has already gone through 5 names since yesterday.... Laying beside Lilly doll... Lilly is decked out with an extension because I used her to teach the school nurse out to attach an extension to the button and how we tape Ellie's extension down for school due to PE. Even with her Belly Bands I may have to still use this method as I am not happy her extension was not secured when she came home from school...

Ellie in love with both her Tubie Freinds...