What kind of feeding tube does your husband have? Most patients begin with whats called a PEG tube. Thats a single tube directly into the stomach. Im asking as there is one type of tube (J/G tube) that has an inner post that goes into the intestines which may be something bothering his stomach but thats not used very often and its pretty rare for it to cause issues especially since its been ok for weeks.

Constipation should NOT cause feeding tube pain. I know constipation can make some patients very uncomfortable. If he's using the feeding tube, ask his doc if you are allowed to add things to the formula your husband's taking. Is he using bags and the pump to deliver the formula over several hours while hes relaxing in a recliner and or sleeping overnight? To me, thats the easiest way to do feedings... no bloating, stomach aches, etc. Remember your husbands medical team is available 24/7 even in the middle of the night and on weekends. Dont hesitate to call them if you see dramatic changes or your husbands condition declines dramatically and he isnt lucid. Watch for fever too. If the feeding tube site is red and has discharge around where it goes into his body that could cause a very nasty infection that requires medical attention. If you ever feel your husband is "too far gone" for you to manage his care dont be afraid to call the docs and if you think you cant transport him to the hospital an ambulance or people to help you with getting him to the ER. Malnutrition and/or dehydration can hit patients and hard!!! I felt so bad when it happened to me I thought I was positive I was starting to die. Pay attention if possible to if he is still going to the bathroom (#1) as thats a sign of dehydration too... you cant pee if you arent taking in enough fluids to do it. His constipation/feeding tube pain could be something to pay close attention to! I forget if your husband gets visiting nurse check ins or not but if he just all of a sudden got much worse he could need an ER visit. I have to remember he is not on pain meds either so its possible he is just feeling the effects of everything pretty much all at once.

Theres so many little tricks that can help make feeding tube easier and the formula easier to tolerate. Usually patients develop problems tolerating the formula due to the delivery being too fast and the formulas too thick. Almost all issues are helped by slowing down the rate of delivery and watering down the formula. Constipation can be helped with adding fiber to the formula, even if it already contains it. Check with doc before making any changes to what your husband has already been doing.

Im sorry to hear your husband is starting to feel the effects of the rads!!! The ups and downs are what many patients experience. Most patients hit the wall towards the end of rads when they begin feeling really bad. The nausea, fatigue, mouth pain all seem to hit them and they're staying in bed 15+ hours a day. This is what led me to be hospitalized for malnutrition and dehydration the first time. Everything caught up to me and I started staying in bed 20+ hours a day. I set my alarm to go off a few minutes before my kids came home from school then went and sat watching tv on the sofa so they didnt know Id been sleeping all day. Pay attention to just how much your husband is sleeping and taking in as the more a patient sleeps often will directly correspond with what hes taking in. Same with his weight... its a sure sign he is NOT doing what hes supposed to do if hes losing weight like crazy every week. Right about now is when intake becomes the most important and if the patient is playing the "make-up game" then they are heading down the wrong road. If he skimps on his daily minimum numbers (at least 2500 calories and 348-064 oz of water) this is when you will really notice it with lower energy levels and weight loss. Many patients (myself included) have thought, tomorrow I'll do better and make up what I was short today. WRONG!!!!! Tomorrow never comes as the next day they will feel even worse from skimping on intake and its even harder to take in enough. This quickly becomes a vicious cycle leading to hospitalization to get them back on schedule. Patients have also been known to be sneaky about it. I considered many things to help hide my weight loss... wearing progressively heavier clothing and shoes may work a couple times but his medical team Im sure are right on top of everything with him so they'll notice this. One patient when I first started would put rocks in their pockets before heading to their rads (and the scale). I had considered doing that myself to get the nurses off my back about my intake. They started weighing me every other day and then daily as I quickly went downhill losing weight even by the day. One important thing most patients do not consider is along with losing weight they're also losing muscle which can be almost impossible to get back. Luckily your husband is still getting hydrated every other day! This may need to be changed to daily if he continues to get worse.

Hang in there!!!! This is almost over then let the heeling begin!!!