Hi all,
I have been on peg feed for well over four years now and am totally dependent on it as I do not have a food passage ( it closed due to non usage because of a problem that occured due to an overdose of radiation). The biggest problem the people in India face is that all peg tubes have to be imported into the country and they dont come cheap. An ordinary person going through this trauma will never be able to afford one. The place I live in - New Delhi, the capital - we have just one company that imports and stocks the peg tubes and just imagine what would happen should the peg "pop" out and the size one is using is not available.

The peg tube in my case has popped out twice in the last four years plus and both because the baloon inside deflated for unknown reasons. Each time I was far away from the hospital where I was being treated and then the problem of getting the tube. I was lucky that in both instances the tubes were available but each time I had to wait almost seven to eight hours for its delivery! I recall the last time it happened - about two month ago - I was at work and suddenly I felt my vest all wet. I thought the peg must have opened out and the feed had leaked out - but when I picked up my shirt and vest and saw the entire vest red in colour and the peg just there - out and deflated. Blood was freely flowing out and I did not have too many options but to call the importer and then call my doctor who too was not available for a good five hours as he was in an emergency. I grabbed the end of the peg and as there was nothing I could do - just removed it and held on to my wound with a towel. I then called my wife - who rushed to pick up the tube rather then wait for its delivery and I drove back home - one hand on the steering and the other alternating between holding the wound an changing gears!!
I reached the hospital in about five hours of the peg having popped out and the doctor walked in and put in the new one with the minimum of fuss. I really do not know how to explain my feelings on that day or the earlier incident - but to be very honest - I was not scared or worried for even a moment - though everyone around me thought the world was coming to an end. I know it sounds unbelievable - but honest to God it is the truth.

Wow - that took some writing!!!
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Ananth - 47 years old - VP of a German multinational, diagnosed with cancer of the larynx in its final ( 4th ) stage April 2000. Refused surgery and opted for radiation and chemo and kept the surgery option as a second line of defence. I am today cancer free - January 2004- and still have my voice with my larynx both that were totally fixed now moving in unison. The only side effect that remains is the peg and a temprory trachostomy and both are expected to be removed over the next two months.