Barb, no, I am still smoking. The last time I "quit", which was only a temporary stop actually, I went for seven months before starting again. I went CT from about 3.5 packs a day.

In my mind my treatment starts at 10:00 Friday morning when I go to have the teeth removed. When I exit my car and head to the oral surgeon's office I will likely have one in my mouth. It will be the last one. I have never in my life been a "quitter" and will not be through the ordeal that lies ahead of me, nor will I be with my smoking. When I extinguish that cigarette I will stop. I will stop for life, the rest of my life.

Helen.C, thank you for the encouragement. The gastroenterologist that will be doing the PEG did both an endoscopy and colonoscopy on me last year, both firsts for me, but not lasts. He explained the entire proceedure to me and I am very comfortable with it and him.

He does it a bit differently than "most" others. It is set up as an outpatient proceedure, but after it is done he has his patients admitted for 23 hours of observation. Doing so keeps his patients in the environment where if there is a problem it can be dealt with immediately. Also it assists in whatever pain management may be necessary. I kind of like that approach.

As for sticking with you all, rest assured that I will be like Crazy Glue. I am here, and will be for a long time to come. By the time member number 5,000 shows up I hope to be able to help that person through their journey towards being cancer free.