Glad you're started and doing well! I would hardly call myself brave -- I've vocally complained my way through every step of this process . I came to this forum to be able to do that anonymously and still preserve my rough-and-ready image in the real world!

None of you guys would know to see me on the street that I'm THAT whiney Hellion and none of the people I know in real life would ever know that I whine so much about this! It's a pretty good deal.

I had the PEG installed at my care team's insistence and I resisted using it but have hit segments where I was glad it was there. Some of the mouth sores, even with rigorous care, made eating prohibitively difficult and I was glad I could supplement my intake with it. When the thrush was terrible, I was unable to comfortably take even ice-cream smoothies orally.

That said, I am in no position to advocate for it -- I listened to my team's advice because I was worried that, despite being a mean, stubborn SOB, I might reach a point where I couldn't maintain my intake orally, and I was unwilling to do anything that might jeopardize my schedule. If I had to have it installed during treatment, they said I may have to postpone treatment for a short period while they did it and I decided that was worse than the alternative they were offering me.

Those were my reasons -- I don't want to argue with anyone here about it -- just explaining why I let them do it. This treatment is different for everyone -- i hope you never have ANY occasion to need the tube -- certainly many people manage without it.

Good luck, stay strong, keep us posted!!

The Hellion