Hi everyone. Wow, this whole PEG issue certainly is a hot topic! Yet, I'm glad to see the discussion and to read the advice from EVERYONE, those who would advocate for it and those who don't feel it's necessary because - for me anyway - I like to know every angle of every aspect of his treatment.

Being that we are just out of the gate here, and have only completed one round of chemo (by the way it's Taxotrene 1x(sp?), Cisplatin 4x and 5FU 4x) it is probably way too soon to tell. The doctors have spoken about the possibility, but right now we're at a "wait and see" kind of place. Certainly, I want to keep my brother from having to deal with any additional pain, but I also want to give him every weapon in the arsenal in order for him to reach our goal of remission. What we must do we will do, and if that means a PEG tube down the road so be it. We're just not there yet. He has been eating so very well the last five days (after the london broil night) and has put back what he lost in the first days after treatment. Am I naive to think we can keep this up? Probably. But for now, since he still is enjoying life and food and grabbing every moment with delight, I'm not going to belabor the issue with him.

Here's a question for caregivers - and I probably should post this in the caregiver forum - but either I'm having sympathy pains or I'm just a hypochondriac (sp?). Has anyone else experienced this? I mean, sore throat, swollen node (could be from a bad tooth I have), but boy do I feel silly! I'm all nervous about my own health and have appointments with doctors and dentists. Am I nuts?

Thanks for all your good advice guys.