I had my Peg feeding tube around 4 weeks ago in advance of 6 weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. I can't say I really wanted it,as after my surgery, another invasive procedure and another 3 days in hospital didn't really appeal.
Thankfully I listened to my sister who works as a Physiotherapist in a childrens hospice where the use of Pegs are quite common.I'm now totally reliant on it as I cannot eat anything - any food makes me wretch and I've been like that for the past 3 weeks.
The actual fitting of the Peg was not pleasant - although it wasn't too prolonged. I was concious though sedated and I certainly knew what was going on and could feel most of what took place.Initially, the back of my throat was sprayed with a numbing agent which actually made me feel as though I couldn't swallow or breathe properly.The 'camera' was then passed down my throat into my stomach which made me gag constantly.Then the needle was inserted through the middle of my abdomen to allow access for the feeding tube. I was later told that this took 3 attempts as due to my age and not being overweight, my muscle mass made this entry more difficult.
It was a little sore at the entry point for a few days,but that quickly passed.I've had a few minor discharges around the entry point but these were nothing really and this stopped after about 10 days.
If anyone has the chance to have one of these fitted - go for it,I'm so grateful that I did.It would appear from my experience that in the UK's NHS they are not really discussed or openly offered unless you push for one.
I would be interested to see how long after chemo/radio I'll have to put up with this thing - so If anyone has any info on that it would be much appreciated.I never knew how much pleasure you get from tasting and eating!

[quote]I would be interested to see how long after chemo/radio I'll have to put up with this thing - so If anyone has any info on that it would be much appreciated.I never knew how much pleasure you get from tasting and eating! [/quote]
Brendan
How quickly you can go back to eating food will depend on several factors, the two most important ones being that you continue to swallow during your treatment - It can just be water, and after TX, getting swallowing therapy/exercise help if you have difficulty swallowing
In all the discussions of PEGs here, yours is the first blow by blow description I remember. I had never had a PEG, but live on a G tube (technical point- they are the same thing but inserted differently: mine was done via flouroscope so nothing down the throat and with a scapel not a needle to make the incision thru the muscles) so I found it interesting.
Finally, like the song goes: [quote]Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone[/quote]
With your early stage and TX, no apparent reason why you should not regain your swallowing ability but you should keep swallowing as much as possible now or you reduce your recovery time.
Keep the Faith
Charm

It will be much easier to relearn to eat if you keep using your swallowing muscles. Try to drink water every day. If that is too thin try chocolate milk, its loaded with calories. Best wishes with your treatments!

Much appreciated

I total agreed, you probably know being an athlete if you don't use it you lose it. That said, swallow as much as possible even if it's sips of water. Or an ensure. It can be exhausting and painful but take it slow and keep trying. There were times I would gag, and throw up (usually relayed to my feeds, though sometimes it was just related to the mucous in my mouth. And believe me I HATE throwing up but I still forced myself. I did not want to be dependent on a tube post treatment - as it was I couldn't tolerate my feeds and had no choice but to eat (drink) by mouth. My peg was gone within 2 weeks post treatment. Good luck!

Hey Brendan - I had the same (awful) experience of remembering blow but blow the difficult placement of my PEG! It was a bit traumatic for me so much so that I insisted they take it out when they took out my chemo port because I just didn't want to deal with truly being conscious when they took it out!
As a speech therapist I've been with Pt's when their tubes were removed and it seemed like no big deal but when it was my turn it was a very big deal! Perspective I guess- lesson learned! My friend is an MD so while I waiting to go back under conscious sedation to have my port and peg removed and told him about my first experience he shared with me a "trick" he recommended: he said to be very verbal for as long as you could while they're administering the meds - he said that if you're too quiet they'll think you're sedated enough. So, when I went in the next time - I was chatty Cathy in the OR and I don't remember a thing this time!
I'd rather have a little too much meds than too little when it comes to a scalpel!!!

Thanks for those tips - I'll try and bore them into knocking me out when it's removed