Hi, Maureen,
My doctor insisted that I get a PEG before I even started my treatments. I hated it, but was glad that I had it in the end. My mouth got so bad that it was very difficult to eat. I resisted using the PEG at first, but I finally made myself use it. There are a number of people on this site that got by without it, but I'm not one of them. Of course, I had surgery, too, so that might be another reason why they wanted me to have the PEG. There are other types of feeding tubes, also, but the PEG is what they gave me.

Female, nonsmoker, 70, diag. 5/09 after tongue biopsy: stage IV. Left hemi-gloss. and left selec. neck disec. 30 lymph nodes removed May 20. Over 7 weeks daily rads. with three chemo. PEG removed 12/4/09 Am eating mostly soft foods. Back to work 11/09 Retired 4/1/11. 7 clear scans! Port out 9/11. 2/13. It's back: base of tongue, very invasive
surgery involving lifestyle changes. 2/14: Now speaking w/Passey-Muir valve. Considering a swallow study. Grateful to be alive.