Wilma,

If you are going to get the PEG..and it looks like you are leaning that way, I would recommend that you have the surgeon put your port in at the same time. One anesthesia, one day and about three days of recovery at home. In Bill's case, he took his first weekly chemo on Thursday, had his PEG and port placed on Friday, recovered at home over the weekend and then started his radiation on Monday. He was sore and needed someone to care for him during those 3-4 days but by the next week he was doing better and able to go to work. Starting about week four of treatment, he needed someone to care for him...driving was not safe and he felt lousy. He never had severe nausea..and never threw up...just felt lousy and weak and his mouth and throat hurt requiring heavy pain meds.

You will be able to eat and drink by mouth as much as you like with the PEG tube..it doesn't get in the way of that at all (except for the couple of days following the surgery when you don't feel that well.) In Bill's case he ate by mouth all the way thru week three of his treatment but starting mid-week four, the pain got severe enough that he went totally on to the PEG for his food (we had cases of cans ready)and meds and only drank 1 bottle of Gatorade by mouth per day to keep his swallow mechanism intact (I would set the bottle beside his chair each day and remind him to finish it...not easy, but he did.) He started eating by mouth two weeks after his treatment ended.

He had a very easy time healing from the tube placement...no problems with infection or soreness (after a week or so.) I would clean the area on his belly after his shower each morning and put a fresh gauze pad around it (they make a split pad that slips under the little button on your belly,) then help him wrap a large ace bandage (with velcro closure) around his torso to hold the tube in place. He made the decision to keep the PEG tube until his second checkup, so 5 months or so.

Hope this helps you make a decision,

Deb