I also went through the whole thing without a PEG. I had a nasal tube after surgery, and my motivation was to avoid having it again.

The Doctor agreed to leave me "tubeless" as long as I maintained my weight within 7 1/2% of my pre-treatment weight.

It was close, but I made it. As David said, it was tough, and very painful many times. You have to keep up both your food and water intake, and at times that required morphine just to allow water to go down.

You will have discomfort and pain either way. You have to decide what is tolerable and what isn't, for you.
Wayne