Hello, My name is Keith. I am 38 years old and have experienced a recurrance of SCC in my tongue. I recently had surgery where about 1/2 of my tongue was removed and then reconstucted, along with a neck disection. I will be starting radiation within the next couple of weeks. No chemo.

I am looking for opinions about whether or not to have a feeding tube put in my stomach or not. I lost about 30 pounds recuperating from my surgery and have gained about 10 back. I would appreciate any insight.

Hello Keith,
I had 7 weeks of radiation,after my 3rd week,i couldn't eat or drink anything for the remaining 4 weeks of rad and for 7 week after rad.I still have trouble eating 5 months after treatment..Get the tube.Good luck....Jeff

Hey Keith

See the forum "Medications,Treatment,Procedures" look for the topic "PEG" by author DCS written on 5-23-07.

Also, there are 2 search engines here. One at the top and one at the bottom of each page.

I will e-mail it to you just in case.

Some CCC's will not let you start rad Tx without one, but not all. I will get one because of what I read. It's your call unless the hospital says you must. Petey

I didn't have one, and made out all right. It was tough, but it can be done. I was forced to use one during my hospital stay post surgery, and really didn't want to go back to it. I kept my nutrition levels high enough that I didn't lose too much weight during rad. Some days I'm not sure how I managed but I did
Wayne

Hi Keith,
Sorry to hear about the recurrance. Good luck with treatment.
I had the tube and had no issues with it, in fact, I credit the tube with my being able to heal and get back to "normal" as quickly as possible. There are great people on here that have done radiation without the tube, but my theory is this..........why put yourself through that? You'll go through enough without having to painfully try to eat every day. The tube should be a non-issue and is often a life saver.
Take care,
Minnie

Keith,
I

Hi Keith

Hands down I recommend it. First time I used it was after surgery. After that, I had 35 IMRT treatments, and I can honestly say that if not for the PEG tube, I would have lost a lot more weight than I did and probably not recovered as quickly. I had no real problems, except I did get it infected right at first which was a pain.

Good Luck
Kevin

Hi Keith, Jack also credits the PEG tube with his speedy recovery and the ability to maintain nutrition and hydration. He had no problems with it. If you have it remember to keep swallowing because that's a key component in recovery as well. Good luck either way. Regards JoAnne

Keith,

I didn't have the tube and it got pretty bad without it but I made it through and I was eating normally within a month post Tx and if I had to do it over again (God forbid) I would not get it again.

That said, the most important thing to remember to do is to continue swallowing every day and put at least 48oz of water and at least 2000 cals into your body. EVERYDAY. Even if you decide to get the tube, only use it when absolutly necessary. Don't become dependent on it and keep your weight up and you'll do fine.