No flames, just my $.02 worth...

I had seven weeks of IMRT with concurrent Cisplatin for hypo-laryngeal SCC (including BOT). No surgery. Trach was installed prior to treatment after difficulty with airway after first biopsy. PEG became necessary to supplement daily nutrition around week 3 and by end of week 4 had become the principal nutrition source. I didn't (re)start oral feeding until about three weeks after treatment had ended and stopped using the PEG entirely about four weeks after that. My ability to eat "normally" improved considerably after the removal of the trach tube.

Advice from my doctors was simple: IF you can take nutrition orally, then good; otherwise, use the PEG. I was able to hold the total weight loss through treatment and recovery to only 20 lbs (10%).

Anyway, I was never able to develop a taste for Ensure or Boost so being able to bypass the bits that taste and smell was a good thing...at least for me.




Age 51 at Dx
BOT SCC T4aN2cM0 Dx May 08
Tracheostomy/PEG May 08
Inductive Chemotherapy attempted Jun 08
Concurrent IMRT (x32) and Cisplatin (x2)/Carboplatin (x1) Jul - Aug 08
Selective Lateral Neck Dissection - 22 nodes removed - all negative - Sep 09