Hi Nate
there are two VERY important things that so far have not been addressed.
1. Age
2. Current weight

As I keep saying, you are young and you will heal fast - much faster than most. The other thing that needs consideration is your current weight. If for example you were overweight, then the loss of 10-15% of your body weight may not be an issue. However, if you are underweight, this could be a catastrophe and impact heavily on your ability to get through radiation.

For the record, my Alex would have died without a PEG and even with it, he was admitted to hospital for malnutrition and was forced onto a regimen of overnight feeds with Nutrison which is not covered by insurance here in Australia. It was the only feed he could tolerate so we bit the financial bullet. Giving up smoking helped free up enough funds to avoid loss of the house and bankruptcy.

We were sort of lucky because our decision to insert the PEG was a no brainer as Alex is naturally slim and was already severely underweight by the time he was diagnosed (6'1" and 130 pounds down from 165).

You need to consider the PEG according to your own circumstances and in consultation with your doctor or nurse. Your doctor may underestimate the day to day trials of using a PEG whereas your nurse will give you more complete information and support.

Using a PEG is easy, but is "weird". It also interferes with ability to swallow that needs to be rehabilitated down the track. Alex has been on a PEG for over 6 months, still hates it, as it interferes with what he wears, how we socialise (we don't do public dinners) and our intimacy (my approach for a cuddle is very gentle and never impulsive as I try not to catch his PEG). However, despite all this, we could not have done it any other way and his swallow though impaired, still allows him to eat carefully. He chokes if he attempts to swallow without thinking but we expect this will return to almost normal over time. He still doesn't eat enough to keep him alive so his eating is for practice and we continue to rely on the PEG to keep him alive. We are aiming at a PEG free Christmas which will be have been 9 months PEG dependent.

Karen