Hi, I'm Sheila. My Brother-In-Law Andy is going through radiation and chemo treatments and is entering in his last week.

Curious to see if anybody here could answer some questions that him and my sister have.

How long before the gag reflex stops?

How long after treatments were you able to eat solid foods?

How long did you have your peg tube in?


Andy had a Partial Glossectomy and Lymph Node removals.

she,

Whatever comments you get remember everyone can react differently to the same or similar treatment(s). With that in mind:

Depending upon how he has handled the Tx so far, the next 3 to 4 weeks will probably be his worse. Most of us begin to feel a positive difference in the 3rd week post Tx and that was true for me.

At that time I started to wean myself back into solid foods slowly with mashed potatoes and gravey, mac n cheese, fruit cocktail, etc.

I also stopped taking all meds because they couln't give me anything to control my nausea. After I stopped all meds I actually stopped being nauseated which led to eating more and getting stronger and better, etc.

I did not have a Peg.

Hope this helps.

SheShe,

Hi and welcome to OCF. Like David said everyone is different.

I think I tried eating about a month out. I started with Oat meal and it was only about a table spoonful. I did not have much of an appetite. It took me a while, by 3 & 4 months I did better. Some things that I tried were Cream of mushroom soup, jello, cream of wheat. Some things will taste awful! So it kills the fun of it. Do not make them to hot. Room temperature until you get better and no spices.

I had my peg tube for about 8 or 9 months after treatment. I had to show I could eat and maintain weight before removal. I did eat & use the tube to make sure I was getting enough at first. Really important to make sure you get lots of liquids.

Hope this was some what helpful. This is a long recovery do not think thing will be better in just a few weeks.

Take care and keep reading there is a lot here to learn.

Diane

She,

Just to throw in another PEG response, I only kept mine for about 6 weeks following Tx. I was bound and determined to get rid of the thing as I hated it so much. I believe this attitude also helped me to get back to eating by mouth quicker than would have happened otherwise. I lost about 6 to 8 more pounds after it was removed but then bottomed out. It took about 4 months post PEG to start putting a little weight back on.

Bill D.

Hi, SS11, here's another "everyone is different story". My hubby had his 1st peg inserted during the cancer surgery on 4-21-05, starting May 25-05 he had 30 rad treatments[no chemo the 1st time] He was able to eat some soft foods off and on during the tx., but most of his nutrition was by peg. His rad tx. ended on July 6-05 and his peg came out Aug. 24-o5. [which was too soon in my opinion because it was a real struggle to maintain his weight once the peg was out, and that caused more problems]. Total time that peg was in was 123 days. I think the REAL question here is "at what point is the person dealing with this confident that he\she can maintain adequate nutrition and hydration to keep on the road to recovery and out of trouble?" No one can answer that but those involved and those involved need to be very honest in that assessment. Amy in the Ozarks

I had my PEG from mid-treatment until about 8 weeks after treatment. Food wasn't great at that time, but manageable. I gagged not only with food, but also every time I yawned-I don't know if that is common or not. Some days the pain meds would make it worst, other days it didn't seem to matter. As many others have said, it is important that he feels comfortable eating, especially from a psychological standpoint which can be the hardest, before the tube is removed.

I am 2 1/2 months post radiation treatments, and still have my peg. I am working with a nutritionist to take controlled steps to get off of it, yet keep the nutrition up. I do not want to have it removed too soon.

I still have the gag reflex, and have been told to only eat "pureed" foods at this point. I can tolerate cream of wheat so far, but pureed fruits still burn my throat. It is a struggle, and I never dreamed it would be so hard to learn how to eat again!!! I needed to lose weight anyway, but they don't want me lose more right now as that is the only way they can tell if I am getting enough calories to sustain.

All of us seem to have to deal with this to some degree, some more than others. Thanks to all of you who write to keep us motivated and cheered up!!

Betty