I started collecting stuffed animals at 17 which many people find strange until they understand the reason why. The stuffed animal that I have which holds the most meaning to me is a small bunny with a surgical GJ (gastrojejustomy) tube placed on its stomach. I have lived with a surgical feeding tube called a GJ tube which allows me to receive medication, water and nutrition during times I am unable to eat or drink enough. I have a rare condition called gastroparesis, which in simple terms, is a paralyzed stomach that caused me to rely on tube feedings for 3.5 years. During that time I started a relatively large collection of stuffed animals including ones that represent specific moments of my medical journey. This artifact may appear simple or childish to an outside audience but to me it operates as a rhetorical object within the feeding tube community. Through comfort, representation and normalization this small bunny argues that disabled bodies and medical devices aren’t just a sterile medical tool but a means to sustain life. 

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     The artifact itself is a Jellycat stuffed animal which is a brand that is known for its extremely soft textures and adorable looks. I personalized this item by an inserting one of my old feeding tubes to truly represent myself. The tube is an exact copy of what is surgically placed in my own abdomen that I rely on daily. I primarily share this artifact online on social media platforms like TikTok, where many chronically ill and disabled people share content relating to their story, awareness, support and more. Unlike mass-produced representations of disability this artifact is personal and often more accurate as a result of disabled people’s own experiences. Its creation was personal and intentional; it was rooted in my own lived experience existing with my feeding tube. 

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     The rhetorical context of this artifact is deeply tied to disability culture, specifically the feeding tube community. This community often uses shared language to communicate on shared experiences that are often not understood by the able bodies audiences. Terms such as “spoonie,” “spoon theory,” “flare-up,” “brain fog,” and “medical trauma” are common in broader chronic illness spaces, while tube-specific language like: “feeds,” “pump,” “button,” “dangler,” “stoma,” “venting,” “tubie,” as well as acronyms like NG, NJ, GJ, and J function as a simpler way of communicating. This jargon builds community and allows disabled people to communicate and identify with each other. This shared language increases understanding and trust among chronically ill patients. The Jellycat with a GJ tube relies on this shared knowledge; it is immediately recognizable to tubies (a term for people with feeding tubes), even if its meaning is not obvious to outsiders.

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     This artifact uses multiple rhetorical strategies to communicate its message. One of the central claims that it represents is that feeding tubes are a normal part of life for many people and should not be seen as shameful. By placing a medical device on a plush toy, the artifact appeals strongly to pathos. The softness of the Jellycat contrasts with the often painful and traumatic experiences associated with feeding tubes, hospitalizations, and procedures. Many chronically ill people, including myself, experience medical trauma, which can lead to strong attachments to comfort objects that may be perceived as “childish.” Trauma can also disrupt typical ideas of maturity, making someone appear either more or less mature than their age. By combining a feeding tube with a stuffed animal, the artifact validates these coping mechanisms rather than dismissing them. 

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     Ethos is established through my personal credibility as someone living with a feeding tube and a disability advocate. I have lived with a feeding tube since I was 17, and my use of my own retired tube emphasizes that this representation is not theoretical but lived. The accuracy of the tube placement and design signals authenticity and respect for the community being represented. Logos is present in the normalization of feeding tubes by depicting a tube as something that can exist on a comforting, everyday object, the artifact challenges the idea that medical devices are inherently frightening or inappropriate to discuss publicly. The purpose of the artifact is multifaceted: to comfort myself and others who see themselves reflected in it, and to raise awareness for non-disabled viewers who may have never seen a feeding tube represented outside of a clinical setting or completely lack knowledge of what a feeding tube is. 

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     The reception of the Jellycat with a GJ tube has largely been positive within disability spaces online. Many tubies and chronically ill viewers respond by sharing their own experiences, using community-specific vocabulary such as “flare-ups,” “feeds,” or “spoons,” which reinforces identification and shared understanding. However, the artifact intentionally leaves certain realities out. It does not show complications such as granulation tissue, flipped tubes, or painful treatments like silver nitrate. These omissions are rhetorical choices; including graphic or distressing elements would undermine the artifact’s purpose as a comfort object and could retraumatize viewers. 

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     Overall, the Jellycat with a GJ tube is both an effective and ethical rhetorical artifact. While some non-disabled viewers may interpret the plush as infantilizing, within the tubie community it functions as a reclamation of comfort and softness in a world that often denies disabled people both. Representation matters for people whose bodies are frequently medicalized or stigmatized, and by creating and sharing this artifact, I challenge cultural assumptions about adulthood, illness, and emotional needs. Culturally, the plush helps normalize medical devices and centers lived experience over clinical narratives, functioning as both a personal comfort object and a tool for public awareness. Through its visibility and authenticity, the Jellycat with a GJ tube demonstrates how small, handmade objects can carry meaningful rhetorical power within disability culture.