Tonya,

First off, welcome to OCF and sorry to hear about your mother-in-law.

Like many, I had radiation and did not have a peg tube. My cancer was on my right lateral (side) of my tongue and they angled my radiation to spare most of my throat. A peg tube was not even suggested to me because my doctors felt I would not need one, and I did not. I was able to eat and drink (soft foods/liquid diet) throughout treatment and recovery. Not to say it was easy, but doable. I lost weight, but not an unreasonable amount.

The effects of radiation are the worst towards the end of treatment and in the weeks after treatments ends. Where was your MIL�s cancer? If her whole throat is getting hit with radiation, it could be more difficult to eat and swallow in the weeks ahead. The same goes with the mouth � my tongue became very swollen and I had numerous mouth sores that made eating/drinking extremely difficult and painful.

I cannot answer many questions about the peg tube, but having it leak certainly does not sound normal to me. This should definitely be addressed with her doctor. Does someone go with her to her doctor�s appointments?

Getting the proper nutrition is key to the healing process. By the way, there are many discussions on the forum about the peg tube � fondly called the �peg wars�. For some it is absolutely essential for survival, and others have been lucky to get by without one. There is a search feature that allows you to search the forum � you will find many discussions on this topic.

I wish your mother-in-law the best. Feel free to ask any questions and please let us know how she is doing.

My huband Seth has Base of Tongue cancer stage 4-A and we are on the tail end of chemo and radiation (surgery was not an option because of the location of the tumor). We were not pleased with the prospect of a PEG tube, especially because they wanted it done BEFORE we started any treatments. However, we figured that "they" knew best and now, looking back, they were right. If you DON'T need to use the PEG tube, that would be wonderful. But if you DO, you certainly want to have it in place BEFORE any treatments because, at least in Seth's case, the prospect of putting anything down his poor, painful throat would probably be too much to tolerate. NOW, the Peg tube has proven to be a life-saver because that is the only way that he can take any nourishment. In fact, we have had to switch over to a pump that administers the fluid at a controlled rate because Seth was experiencing severe diarrhea because the flow rate was too fast. If you have an option, I would definately opt for a PEG tube; like I said, if you don't need it...great. But if you DO...

Tonya, welcome to OCF. Please begin a new post when asking questions so your post will get the attention it deserves.

Your mother in law still has 6 more radiation treatments. This is the time when most patient have the most difficulty. zEven the patients who have sailed right thru tend to struggle the last few treatments and the next 3 weeks after finishing. To remove the peg tube before she has gotten thru the worst part is not a good idea.

If your mother in law is able to eat, she should. Its much better to eat than use the peg tube. Just make sure she flushes it daily even if she isnt using it. The leakage is pretty normal. As long as most of what she takes in isnt coming back out as leakage then she is doing ok. Everyone has some drainage around where the tube is coming out of their stomach. I use what is called drain sponges to keep from staining my clothes.

Please let us know what the doc says on Tues. Best of luck to your MIL with her last few treatments