Hi! Some of the other patients here can tell you about the various kinds of feeding tubes ... I think the ones you can use once you already started treatment are different than the ones they install before you start treatment (because of not wanting to put you through a surgery right now). But what you are experiencing is definitely a normal thing to be experiencing, and you're right to want to get on top of it. And be VERY proud of yourself for getting this far!

I had the PEG tube, I think ... a stomach one, inserted via a simple surgery prior to the radiation and chemo. We chose that mostly because I already have / had issues with food intake, and it seemed better for my situation than taking chances. I really didn't want to do it, but it was the right choice, because it was amazing how quickly our bodies can go from "I'll put up with this" to "Never again!". Some folks get all the way through, and during the continuing burn even after rads stop, without needing the help ... but most of us end up needing one kind of tube or another.

If / when you do this, one big thing to keep up with is swallowing ... sips of water, whatever. Just to keep the reflex in practice. There is therapy they can help you through after you recover, but the less of the reflex you lose, the better you will recover later.

Christine is good at chiming in with nutrition information, and there's a whole part of the forum dedicated to that information ... you might want to browse through that section and see some of the options open to you while you wait to talk to your doctors.

((hugs)) You can do this!

Kristen