I just had my surgery yesterday. I don't want to be too much of a wuss, but of those who have had PEGs, is it uncommon to have waves of lvl7/8 pain that feel like someone is hooking a finger under your rib and trying to lift you off the bed?

When the pain hits, I can see the bubbles move in the tube. It looks like they rise and then there is a small pop/movement feeling and the pain recedes and the bubbles recede back into my stomach. My wife nicknamed it my pain barometer.

The first day or 2 after having a feeding tube placed a patient can experience severe pain. Ive been thru this and know how bad it is. Im so sorry you are hurting! If the disc near where the tube goes into your stomach is flush with your body then its too tight. Ask your doc to loosen it so you are able to fit 2 drain sponges between the plastic disc and your body. This should help you to feel a little better. If you are still in severe pain after about the 4th day then check in with the doc. Dont be afraid to ask for and use some strong pain meds to alleviate the pain.

Best wishes!

I agree with Christine. Also, with pain, a stoma, keep an eye out for any infections...discharge, redness to area, soreness, smell, hotness, fever, which you should contact your doctor about.

Good luck.

Ditto what everyone else said... also the bubbles... maybe gas. Make sure you are careful when you put stuff in that you don't put in a lot of air. hugs.

Thank you all for the reassuring comments. The spasms stopped after breakfast and i was free of them all day long until the home care nurse came for the first appt and cleaned the surgery site.

He was very gentle but cleaning under the "gasket" and around the site itself made me rather nauseas. I felt pins and needles in my arms and broke into a serious sweat. I had about an hour of spasms after he left.

I just finally had my PEG removed after living with it for just over 3 months. If your experience is anything like mine, the area will be tender for little while after the surgery. It's tough to do, but make sure you turn the tube like you're supposed to so it doesn't end up stuck. I noticed that mine would "pucker", for lack of a better term, when I felt hungry. It felt like my stomach was trying to suck the tube in and then all of a sudden it would just suck in air around the tube resulting in the tube bouncing around. It was especially bad right after chemo when I couldn't keep food down. After a particular bad bout of this puckering my PEG site would feel a bit tender again, but it usually went away within that day.

I'm not sure if my experience was typical or not, but I hope something in there is helpful or at least puts your mind at ease a bit. The main thing, like everyone else said, is to ask questions if you have any. If it's something that's weighing on you then it's important enough to merit an answer, even if you have to get a little pushy to get that answer.

I have now associated the spasms with an empty stomach, or at least in my mind that's what's causing them. It seems my body is trying to pass the balloon along. The stomach does contractions when it's empty.

When the spasms start they continue until I eat something then they go away. I have oatmeal out and ready to go sitting by the microwave.

The nurse yesterday told me this would ease up after they remove the bumpers?
Anywho, this solution is not based on actual science and it's highly anecdotal, but it's working for me as a stop gap.


Thanks again for the support

Edit:spelling

BrianPK, you are correct about the cause of the spasms. I have had a tube for 20 months and, when my stomach needs food, it will try to eat my tube! Sucks the external ring flush to my skin and wakes me in the middle of the night. Actually, there is something comforting about that.