David,
one reason is that they come out that easily. I had one in after surgery and it lasted exactly half a day before I puked it up...... The other disadvantage is that the diameter is quite small which is ok for water an low viscosity fluids.

M

For once, Markus and I are on the same side of a feeding tube discussion, at least as to unpleasant experiences with nasal feeding tubes. Much as I dislike the G-tube, the nasal gastric tube was an even more horrible experience for me after surgery. It prevented me from expelling the mucous which then choked me and did cause me to vomit. They had stitched my nasal tube into me to make sure it couldn't come out as they feared my throat was too swollen to rethread a nasal tube down if it did come out, so even puking would not free me.
I didn't need any feeding tube the first time around which worked out best for me.
Charm

First night I had mine I must have got it tangled in the bed somehow and I woke up to a very wet bed. The night nurse came in and said "I'll put a new one in" and I politely said "no thanks, I'll wait for the doctor!" I didn't have any further problems and as far as the size of the tube, which I have no idea, I remember they gave me a syringe that I sucked up even VHC and shot it up my tube. I always flushed it with water as I needed those ounces as well.

I'm not sure i want to weigh in here, but here goes.

I did radiation only and refused the PEG. I made it without losing weight. I recomend the PEG because the last few weeks was very tough. I made it and did get a bit of satisfaction that my gamble paid off.

I also recomend it for a second reason. I have seen many posters here who have a very difficult time of it. This usualy comes on very suddenly and the PEG is the only thing that keeps them out of the hospital.

I gambled with my pride and won. Are you feeling lucky lately

Prevention is better than cure. Just because you have a PEG it doesn't mean that you have to use it. Once you've finished your treatments and your medical team is satisfied that everything is going well with nutrition intake etc, the PEG can be removed in a couple of minutes.

Karen

My Dr Trotti, RO at Moffitt, who is not a big proponent of the PEG tells me that in his experience 30% of his PEG patients end up PEG dependent for the rest of their life. To me that's a real scary number.

David, what exactly does that mean though?

Do these 30% that are dependent on a PEG tube include those that otherwise would not get any nutrition? Also this would depend on the type of patients (i.e. age severity etc)
Reading the comments here, even those who are "proponents" of a PEG do not like the *&%$ thing and are happy to get rid of it once they are past the rough spot of the treatment, if not sooner.

M

It doesnt seem like the people on OCF would end up being in that 30% figure. Most people here have gotten a peg and had it removed asap. If I had to put a number on my guess on peg dependant for life patients, it would be 10%. Of course all this is my own uneducated opinion

[quote=davidcpa]My Dr Trotti, RO at Moffitt, who is not a big proponent of the PEG tells me that in his experience 30% of his PEG patients end up PEG dependent for the rest of their life. To me that's a real scary number. [/quote]

I wonder how many of his patients (who don't get a PEG) end up in the ER or hospitalized because of dehydration or being malnourished? There's a complication we didn't want to face.

And I wonder how many of those patients would have ended up needing a PEG anyway.

And for the record, I have no regrets about having a PEG. There would have been no way for me to get the nutrition my body required without one. I lost no weight at all during treatment, had no trouble with dehydration or getting meds as required, and when I was able, I returned to eating by mouth. No harm, no foul.

Clearly, everyone else's results may vary.

- Margaret