Wow = I feel like one of the final five Cylons (guess who is a Battlestar Galactica fan)for going the entire TX without a PEG. In amazing synchronicity, I was just cleaning out a file cabinet minutes ago and came across an interview with Swedish doctors who stressed that even with a PEG, patients needed to keep swallowing in order to reduce complications later. Exactly as Gary suggested.
Geri
The worst part of the pain meds for me was the constipation. What ended up working the very best was plain old suppositories right off the CVS shelf. It avoided all the hassles with the laxatives.
Finally, sadly Gary is right that you don't even get high off these narcotics due to the pain so addiction is a red herring for the majority of cancer patients.