My PEG was installed in Oct08. I have been using it since the begining of Nov. My GP tell me the life expectancy is about 6-9 months. He is not a surgent and his only dealing with them, other than check to make sure my is OK is from his time in working at a hospital.
I only meet with the surgeon twice that installed it and he gave me the impression that I wouln't need a new one. But that was months ago.
I resently failed a modified swallowing study and expect to be using the PEG for sometime to come. (next time I will study harder) Do any of you have any idea how long one of this things are good for? What's the standard? I have had no problem with infection. I'm told that the silicon deteriorates after so long in the stomack acids.
Oh and one more thing. If they were to change it out. They wouldn't do that will I was awake would they?
Amy

That might depend on the PEG itself. My second, crappy 12F PEG was prone to clog and only lasted a few months -- Part of the problem was that the end wasn't open, except for a tiny hole. My current PEG was installed in Dec08 and is still going strong (20F), in large part because it is just a tube with a large hole in the end.

In the unlikely event it should start clogging, I know I would actually be able to put a wire or stiff monofilament (weed-whacker cord) down to clean it; even the brush they sell for cleaning the drink tubes on CamelBacks.

Actually, I don't think the silicone dissolves or anything like that, just gets discolored inside by the stomach acids.

Replacement would depend on who you have do it -- When the radio-docs did mine, they just took me down to imaging area, gave me a local, and placed the small tube using a fluoroscope (I got to watch). The small tube had nothing on the end, so was easy to remove (Did it myself several times to clean it, but that's not recommended!)

Personally, I'll always go for the big tube -- More trouble to install and hurts when removed, but does the job it was intended to do.

For the bigger, better tube, the gastro-doc knocked me out and put the endoscope down my throat to install it. Likely, he would also remove the old one while you are out.

Amy...

I had my Peg tube placed the end of July 2007. It was removed Jan 2009. It was working perfect just like when it was installed. Mine lasted 1 1/2 yrs, thats longer than the average patient. Most people are rid of theirs a couple of months after tz ends.

Best of luck with your swallowing. Hope it improves.

I was just reading on a non-cancer group that one young man had a low-profile PEG and it served him for five years -- He finally had to replace it because his abdomen and stomach were growing too far apart, not because the PEG failed.

Amy

I asked my ENT about that at my visit two days ago and she said 6 months to a year. She advised me to watch for leakage as that is the usual sign that the PEG is failing. My first PEG (a lousy 12 FR) in March lasted less than a month, I have had the current PEG (just okay 14 FR)since April 2, 2009 (I refused to go in on April's Fools' Day ) and while it is a hassle, it is working.
I will check with my RO and MO next week at their visits and let you know what their experience has been
Hang in there
charm

I just went in for debriding of the excess skin growth around the stoma and it was a well-timed visit because the two plugs on the PEG end were failing (the pull-tabs were ripping). The nurse gave me a replacement and a spare, which just slide onto the end of the PEG. She also mentioned that if that junction ever started to leak, just remove it, cut about 1/4 inch off the end of the PEG tubing and reinstall.

BTW, I made a plug for the holes out by cutting off the fitting on the end of the 'Roo bag and tying an overhand knot in the tubing, pulling it tight with pliers and then trimming it.

Pete,
My plug, the main one, is completely torn off. I ordered one on line. It's crappy and leaks. I'm up and moving I don't want "food" all over my clothes. So I put the old one back in. I'm just scared to death I'm going to loose the plug. I did once, in my ex-husbands driveway! Beautiful seen, me crying, husband and grown kids on the ground looking for something they'd never seen before. Me hyperventalating. Them thinking I had finially lost my mind! They found the thing though. Washed it off and it's back in.
I have an appt. with a GI the end of this week. My plan is to ask him what he thinks and go from there.
Thanks
Amy

I had two PEGS in. Both lasted between 8-10 months each. I had them in for a total of 18 months. When the first one broke and fell out I had it replaced in the ER because I wasn't ready to eat enough by mouth and still needed my nutrition via PEG. About 10 months later the second one broke and I just let them take it out and didn't have another one put back in. I was ready to let it go and was eating more. I then just supplemented my eating with drinking Ensure Plus to help me gain and maintain my weight.

From CRTaylor - I have had a PEG since Nov 2007. It has been changed 4 times and the last time was May 12, 2009. It is made of a translucent silicone and no one has told me that there is a limitation on how long one of these will last. I had to have replacements because they came out and when I went to the ER the doctors said replacement was the best option versus reinstalling the one that had come out. I was awake each time the tubes were replaced. A local pain killer was used, lanacane or lidacane or both together (please forgive my spelling). There was some discomfort, but no real pain in the process. I have had no trouble with the current tube. I have learned in the last two years to ask questions. Get second opinions. I hope this information helps you.

Okay- Update. My second PEG installed April 2, 2009 has now started to leak big time. I have taped it up with waterproof white surgical tape and will be calling Monday to get a replacement. The life of this PEG was just over 9 months. The leak is near the stoma so no room to cut it off as suggested.
This time I intend to ask for a mic-key button of at least 20 FR as I am awaiting my VitaMix so I can start eating healthy again. The Jevity is just corn maltodextrin and corn syrup solids and if that is healthy than every nutrition book I have read or even heard about on Cancer is wrong.
charm

Charm:

What is VitaMix and where do you purchase it? Does it come prepared, or do you have to mix it?
Thanks,
Julieann

JulieAnn: sorry for any confusion. VitaMix is the number one rated Blender by Consumer Reports. It is also the one recommended by the Gtube listserv and the Yahoo Blended diet group. With the Vitamix, you can puree real food like vegetables, tofu, even whole apples (skin seeds core etc) into a mixture smooth enough to put down your feeding tube. We always ate a very healthy diet and since the canned formulae like Jevity or even Ensure Plus are just cornmaltodextrin and corn syrup solids, they are really the bare minimum to sustain life. since I will have a PEG for life now, I want to eat healthy. I wish there was a bottled or canned formulae that was healthy but no such luck
Here is a link to the post I did on how to order a Vitamix blender for over a hundred dollar discount if you have a doctor's note of medical necessity. Vitamix medical discount

Thank you, Charm:

When I looked it up before I asked you, all I saw was the blenders, so decided to ask you. I, too, cannot stand the pre-mixed sugary canned stuff, but they did serve a purpose for a while. Even after two years, I still have trouble swallowing food, so I'll probably do like you. Thanks for the link. I also have been told by two doctors that I am allergic to soy (which most pre-mixes have), and then again by another two doctors who say I am not allergic to soy. I guess I'll shoot for one more and then it'll be three against two LOL. I have no idea which lab they use to get two different diagnosis.
julieann

Regarding the original topic of this post....

My first peg tube lasted 1.5 years. Second one lasted 1.5 months. It was somehow dislodged and replaced during my extended hospital stay. Now my third peg tube is failing, it has sprung a couple leaks along the side. Age of the third peg tube is only 3 months. I will try to repair it with liquid bandage or if that fails then crazy glue. Anything to avoid another surgery, or at least prolong it.

The team at HUP told us that replacing Clark's PEG was an outpatient procedure in Interventional Radiology � CT guided placement. We haven't done this yet as his tube has held up fine after 2 years. The only issue was that the cap fell off and now he has a "Y" extender attached. Works fine for now. He did not want a surgical procedure for a replacement either.

Anita

Christine

What a pain. I just got back from Georgetown Hospital where I had to get my third PEG tube. The second one only lasted nine months then started leaking badly. You may want to also try tightly wrapping black electrical tape around the tube section that is leaking. That worked for me from Saturday until today.
They have now scheduled me for regular replacement of my PEG every six months as that is what they are finding is needed for long term PEGs. The "surgery" was very brief and I did get an even bigger PEG - a 16FR this time.
You really don't need this hassle.
Charm

Yep, I use and will still use the Y extender as a "cap" since the PEG tube does not have an anti-reflux valve like the "button"
Two years is an amazingly long time for a PEG to last. I am on automatic six month replacement now.
Charm

Charm, I have the Mic-Key button in 20Fr, but the problem is that while the tube is big, the fittings on both ends, esp the disconnect fitting, are much smaller. It is a constant battle with my crushed meds and the small orifices that block even with powder. After a while, the anti-backflow valve stops working, so you have to put your finger over the hole and put the plug in to keep it from leaking.

My Mic-Key has to be replaced every three months, because of expected balloon failure, but the replacement is easily done in Doc's office. Worse, the dang fitting tubes for it quickly get work-hardened and are hard to block with the clamp. Replacement tubes are expensive, apparently not covered by Medicare and no better (The makers recommend weekly replacement -- Not for me at $15-30 per tube!). I am making do instead with some Y-fittings on the tube from the standard kind of PEG, which the nurses keep replacements in the office. The only big advantage with the Mic-Key is that there is less movement of the tube at the stoma, so less granulation occurs that needs to be debrided (Cauterized with silver nitrate sticks).

At some point, I expect to go back to a regular PEG, installed with an endoscope, but I will modify it to have a right-angle fitting very near the stoma. One of the Mic-Key tubes has that and it is much less disturbing to the stoma even if I keep it on for days.

I was able to hold out til 1/30 then had it replaced. It was easy, done as out-patient in the radiology lab. I barely felt it, so it was definitely an easy procedure. I have the same one again 20fr G tube.

Pete

Thanks for the info which verified the opinion of the most recent interventional radiologist. When I explained that I wanted to cut my Jevity in half and go with Vitamix meals, he alerted me to the exact same valve problem. He pointed out how the valve clogs and is even smaller than the first 12FR tube I hated. He thought that it would complicate all the pills and powders I currently syringe. So I agreed to not get the button.
Instead he put in a regular 16 FR PEG tube also made by Mic-Key which has a balloon on it to hold it in, along with a circular rubber protector. I am experiencing granulation but my ENT just gave me a script for silver nitrate sticks which I will drop off at the pharmacy. I like the closure on the new PEG and it does not clog like my old ones.
Read the Roger Ebert article in Esquire that Brian posted on the OCF news site as well as in the coping/anger forum - very moving.
Charm

Christine

Isn't it amazing how once you are totally dependent on the PEG tube more than the few months that the OCF advocates for it experience, just how complicated and troublesome it is? I hope mine lasts the six months but you are right the replacement procedure seems a breeze in comparison with what we put up with otherwise
charm

I did read the Roger Ebert article. What a story of inspiration. Poor guy has suffered so much and keeps going. Hey....that sounds like so many of us on here!!!!! Nice to see it getting out to the general public just how awful OC can be. But at the same time, what can be overcome when life just isnt fair.

Christine, your PEG is the kind that I took out for cleaning and reinstalled three times by myself.

Actually, the only PEG that is really a PEG is the kind installed with endoscope (The E in PEG). The others are G-tubes.

My most recent PEG, before the Mic-Key, was in for six months and was still going strong. I have it here at home and the tube is still flexible, the Y-cap is replaceable and the mushroom anchor is good, albeit discolored.

Charm, I wish my Docs would trust me with the silver nitrate sticks...

Pete

My PEG is really a G-tube. I still call it a PEG cuz Im not very technical. I have it anchored in my stomach and also a balloon anchor in my intestine right past the stomach. I use the larger sized tube which goes into my intestine. As far as the top goes, it has 2 parts and a tiny one for nurses to stick needles to give meds.

I also have a handy attachment that helps me when Im feeling sick. Its a white bag that hooks up to the tube that is in the stomach. If Im ill, it sucks out all the nasty stuff from my stomach and I feel instantly better. I can use the stomach port for formula if I need to but the tube is so tiny Im afraid it will clog too easily. That port I flush once or twice per week and its good.

Pete...hows the critters?

Charm...please update if those sticks work. Ive had a problem with this for months.

Pete

Thanks for pointing out that technical correction. Finally, I can state that I HAVE NEVER HAD A PEG only a G tube since no doctor wants to try and thread an endoscope down my mouth and throat after the salvage surgery. Instead they use a fluoroscope each time to take a look. I will update my signature line. Yep, I'm lucky my ENT thinks patients need to be empowered to deal with cancer as a chronic condition, hence her okaying me getting silver nitrate plus writing the justification so I could get the Vitamix medical discount.
Charm

Christine
I dropped off the prescription for "silver nitrate applicator" yesterday at the pharmacy which had to order it but thinks it will be in on Monday. I will post back and probably post on my granulation tissue thread to document my adventures in self administration of silver nitrate. I know the basics, cover skin with vaseline, put only on granulation tissue but as you know, the devil is in the details. My ENT did confirm that in her experience only silver nitrate works.
Charm

Did the silver nitrate sticks work?

Christine

Yes and no. I posted an explanation on my granulation thread.
Short version: the sticks worked but I messed up by not putting a bandage or vaseline underneath the stoma to protect the normal skin. Oh, well, next time it will be better.
Charm

That is exactly what would have happened to me too. Thats why I thought I would learn from you.

I think that I will just leave mine alone. Right now its not hurting so its ok.

With all the excitement of having my feeding tube pop out in the middle of a Pilates class at the gym, I forgot to update here.
After I picked up the tube from the floor and saw that the balloon was totally deflated, I tried to stick it back in but it was like pushing a wet noodle. I was pleasantly surprised to see that nothing was gushing out of the hole in my stomach.

At the hospital, when they put in my 4th feeding tube, a replacment mickey tube (16 FR), this Interventional Radiology doctor has put me on a three month replacement schedule. This tube lasted only 4 months. Like Pete, I get to watch it on a fluoroscope and for the first time I declined all pain pills, lidocaine, etc so I would not have to sit in post op.
It hurt less than the silver nitrate sticks I self administered. So for me, "PEGs" (used generically even though this was not endoscopic nor percutaneous) are a 90 day wonder.
Charm

OMG!!!!! The kind of tube you have is NOT supposed to do that!!!!! I have the same kind a J/G tube and still call it a PEG.

I am surprised that your docs make you sit in post op. I walk in, dont even have to change, get on the table lift up my shirt and they drape me with sterile cloths. Then they lidocaine the site and change it out while I watch on the screens. Less than 10 minutes later, Im walking out the door with my shiny new tube. My last one also lasted longer than normal, it made it for 4 months before it sprung a leak. You are a brave man to do it without pain meds.

Christine.

Thanks but I confess that as usual, I game the system by having some percocet ready to crush and syringe down my brand new tube before I get into the car. I am amazed at the stawarts here (like Wanda's husband) who go without prescription pain killers the entire TX. Especially since with the exception of the fentanyl patches, the pain pills for cancer are the same ones I used to take recreationally forty plus years ago. I couldn't pass them up when they were finally legal although the high factor seemed to elude me this time around.
I am envious of how efficient your doctors are, I have to wait at least a half hour plus they insist on making a big deal of it, replete with wheeling me into a surgery room on a gurney etc. I protested I could walk, but they claim it's insurance issues.

It was quite a shock to have the balloon fail, but actually very good timing. The newest bump up to 75mg on my Thyroid pills has emboldened me to fly out with my wife to Albuquerque to visit Santa Fe and Taos next Thursday. Having it fail on the trip was one concern that I won't have. I will post my TSA stories upon return.
Charm

Right on Charm. You are always an inspiration.
mark

Charm - ask me about SF. I lived there for years... actually was diagnosed with this shit while I lived there. Still have friends that have pull in SF, own restaurants, things worth doing, seeing, stuff to stay away from cause it's a waste of the little time you've got. I was born in Albuquerque, and am not that fond of it. Taos is good for 1 day. When it's time to ski, that's another story. Way small but the drive between SF and Taos is really sweet.

my mom just had her peg tube inserted about 3 weeks ago now and was told at the time that it probably would have to be changed in 6 months or so perhaps sooner if it clogs etc....

how are you making out on your food - mom is only pumping at 40ml/hr and seems to vomit once a day or so.. having trouble digesting have you had a similar experience?

Sunshine, the feeding tubes Charm and I discuss are not the regular peg tubes. I had my first feeding tube for a year and a half, it was a regular peg tube. We have something a little different called a J/G tube.

Water down the formula as I explained on your other post.