Marina

First of all, my thoughts and prayers go out to you, Craig and your family. I'm a fellow Canadian, and my kids were two years old and four months when I was diagnosed.

I was not given a choice regarding the peg as I had lost 50 pounds by the time I was diagnosed. I didn't want the peg for emotional reasons, but I'm extremely thankful my oncologist insisted as I truly believe it helped save my life. I held off on using it for as long as I could, but by the end of four weeks of radiation, I could no longer even drink water. For about four weeks, I took all of my nutrition through the peg.

I think of it as an extremely valuable insurance policy. Like many others have said, you don't need to use it if you don't have to, but it's nice to know it's there if needed. I had the peg removed two months after the end of my radiation and did not have any trouble relearning how to swallow.

Best wishes,

Sam