My Radiation Oncologist is also opposed to PEGs based on his experience that patients can do very well without them. I was one such patient who got through radiation and chemo with no PEG. I also never got dehydrated, did not need any IV infusions, etc. I did end up living on Ensure Plus for a while and recovered not only my swallowing ability but also was able to eat all types of food not just soft stuff very quickly after TX was over.
Now that I am on a feeding tube for life, I will concede that it would have been much easier for me to get a PEG but if I had a do over, I would once again refuse a PEG.
I know how caregivers here worry so much about a patient not getting a PEG. IMO that concern is fueled by the misleading information given by many doctors. It's technically true that getting a PEG halfway thru radiation is almost impossible, but that's only because PEG stands for a tube put in with an endoscope (the E in PEG)and your throat is a mess with radiation. My experience is that it's no big deal medically at all to get a feeding tube put in with a fluoroscope instead of a endoscope down the throat. It's the same tube, going to the same place. When I had mine done after the surgery required it, I was down to only 119 pounds - much lower than my lowest weight during the first radiation, I was dehydrated and only two days out of the ICU.
Here I will diverge from David and say that if I had to get a feeding tube, having had both a nasal tube and a g tube, I would get a g tube.. Everybody is different and for some people it just doesn't matter. But it mattered to me a lot so I continue to post in support of fellow "just say No to PEG" patients