Hi Marina, our thoughts are with you. I just read your initial post today, and now you've been in this hell for 15 days. The good part is that you know more facts and can begin to make progress with decisions. Most importantly, you've already done a lot of research. Good for you! Knowledge IS power, and you and Craig will benefit so much from your full participation as experts. You are the best experts about yourselves, so keep asking questions of your health team until you are satisfied that you understand what it is they're proposing.

So how are you holding up? I want to reassure you that I was extremely ill in 2006/2007, and now I am extremely healthy and grateful for every day.

My PEG was mandatory, along with the Hickman catheter. They were both important to my recovery, though I still made myself swallow at least once a day. Even with the PEG, my weight dropped to 103, and I'm 5'5" -- so I'm not sure that my cells would have received enough nutrition to recover as well as they did, had I not had the PEG. But every situation is different. Hopefully by now you have decided what will work best for Craig.

God bless you, Craig, and your children. You have a world of support right here -- I am so glad you found the OCF. I apologize if I've repeated things you didn't need to hear again, but I've been offline for weeks and just now read your post of 2/10. I wanted to respond right away and tell you that your family jumped right into my prayers as soon as I read your paragraph.

Do keep us posted. We are your best cheerleaders, because we've been through it and totally empathize. You and Craig will get through this, Marina, and even in many GOOD ways, your life will never be the same again. That is one thing we all share, for sure!

Carol