We have a long way to go to get to the removal stage but to answer a little of Brian's question....

When they put Harry's tube in, the doc took pictures (yes it is very odd to view the parts of your husband that you never really wanted to see) and she showed them to me. There were before and after shots. The after shot showed the inside of his stomach where the PEG goes through his abdomen. It has a cup like shape with the open part of it facing inward. The tube comes out of the top of the cup thing and protrudes through the abdominal wall.

The doc told us that the removal procedure was simply to come into the office and she would give it a healthy yank and out it would come. My assuption being that with just the right pressure, the cup collapses and the aparatus is quickly removed.

I am no doctor but this was just my observation. Why it functions this way rather than the way yours did, Brian, I am at a loss for sure. Maybe something new in the technology or maybe just different procedures or manufacturers?

Cindy