Denise,

Please, please, please have your mother get a PEG tube. I know from my experience with my mother and from the people on this list who were more knowledgeable than I.

My mother had 64 radiation treatments (32 times 2 a day) plus 6 chemo treatments. She felt she could go it without the tube (even though she wasn't eating much at the start). It was about 5 weeks into treatment when it hit her. Since the facility my mom was going to doesn't like PEG tubes, the doctors did not want to put in a tube -they feel it leads to swallowing problems. Well, my mother made it through treatments BUT for the 2 weeks she has been home (she was getting treatment 2 hours away) there has been nothing but trouble. In the first week she became dehydrated and I had to get a home nurse to infuse her. As a result of the dehydration and the fact that she still was not drinking her nutrition, I basically railroaded her into getting a tube.

The problem with the treatments is that the patients go along for about a month feeling O.K. but then everything hits them like a ton of bricks-and it is difficult to play catch up.

So my advice is to do it - it is very convenient.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Cynthia