Hi Brian,
Thanks for the input. The yeast infection is gynecological, but yesterday I did notice a couple white patches in her mouth, which we will ask the dr about this morning.
After my post, I did a search for fistula to make sure I understood exactly what one was and the feeding tube info came up. So I read about the clogging problem when using anything "non-commercial". But thanks for pointing that out. We could have had some real problems had I not found out.
If anything new comes up at her appt with the surgeon this am, I'll be back.
I do have one question and I'm not sure I'll like the answer, but..... I know with being stage 3/4, her chances aren't very good. BUT we keep hearing to not go by the statistics. She's young and relatively healthy (other than the big C of course), she has a great team of aggressive drs, etc, etc. But seriously, of the people you mention sometimes that you personally know that don't make it...have you seen many young (20's/30's) people die from this? In your personal opinion, not medical statistics info, what do you think her chances are? Any better than the 20 - 30% in the statistics?
I know that is putting you on the spot, so if you don't want to answer, I understand. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but sometimes I think Heather still hasn't grasped the seriousness of this. Just trying to get her to pay more attention to proper nutrition is a challenge. I feel sometimes like I'm dealing with my 5 yr old granddaughter instead of a 28 yr old adult. I feel like I need something concrete to throw at her, i.e. "Heather, Brian PERSONALLY (from the forum, etc) knows X number of people that have died this year that were younger than 30".
Sorry, maybe this isn't the right way to be thinking.
Rosemary