There is VERY little info regarding PEG removal and subsequent healing of the site on the internet. I just had mine removed a few days ago--and oh boy, that hurt! I can't believe they really do just yank it out! How long before it is safe to swim or take a bath? What did you put on it to help it to heal? (aloe, ointments, vitamin E, etc.) Did it heal up like a belly button? Anyway to avoid that? My doctor said I could come back for a surgery to make it look more like a vertical line? Did anyone have that surgery? Thanks for your replies!

You are so correct that the yank hurts, but only for a short period of time. I looked at it as a chance to holler at full volume in a public place (grin). I just wore a bandaid and kept the hole clean. It healed quite quickly. Yes, there is a slight depression, but as my bikni wearing days are behind me, I did not consider any surgery. If you have the revision surgery, please post so people will know how it goes. I showered with the bandaid on, but did not submerge, as in swim, until it was clearly healed. Be happy that the worst is over. Probably nothing will ever hurt like that again!

Didn't hurt as bad as when the thing went Abscess, but still wowsa, what a yank.

I too showered with the bandage on and now that it has healed, I have been in the pool, no problems. Mine has been out since April 13, this year.

Kevin

Yes one yank! ouch! Hope they come up with something better to remove.

I had my peg removed 9 months after treatment and it took a while to heal. Kept covered,dry & clean took about 6 weeks. Remember it is going to heal from inside to out. Now it just looks like a 2 belly button.

Like Joanna I am way past the bare tummy stage. Ha ha!! All the scares I have are my ribbons of life. Ha ha.

Take care...
Diane

thanks for all your replies. I still wanted to wear a bikini so I decided I would get BOTH belly buttons pierced and flaunt them. okay....that's a joke.

badges of honor ??

<<grin>>

</humor>

because my tube was in for about 1 yr, the skin had grown around it such that when the peg was pulled, the healing left me with the look of a second belly button.

i talked to my dermatologist who said that a bit of plastic surgery could make it almost disappear. i'd left it as it was.

however, i think the plastic surgery route is a good one to consider.

cu,
larryb

That quick yank is one to remember! I was told not to submerge the area for about 72 hours but that it was OK to shower immediately.

The issue that freaked me out was that the site began leaking on my way home even though the nurse had bandaged and taped the site with heavy gauze. No one told me not to drink carbonated soft drinks for 2 or 3 days and it seems that is what caused my problem while stopping for lunch on my way home from the hospital. Even so, the thing still leaked for a week to 10 days total and the wife and I stayed freaked even though the nurse we called at RO's office said not to worry. Right! Easy for her to say and she was not leaking her stomach contents into her pants! It did eventually heal and now, 11 months later, looks like a mini-navel just above and to my left of the real navel.

Bill D.

There seems to not be enough info given out after the big yank( and also before, in my case). The doctor that gave me the yank was very blase about it. When my oncology nurse called yesterday she was quite surprised that 1) the doctor didn't even give me lidocaine, and 2) I didn't receive any paperwork for after care. Who knew you were not supposed to drink carbonated drinks after? My PEG was placed and removed at a different hospital than I was receiving treatment at. I feel like my PEG issues got the short shrift. I am in a study group of patients so the study nurse was going to make a note of lack of attention to PEG issues in her report.

I still have my PEG tube so I cannot comment about the removal.
I did have however issues right after it was placed. Basically, I felt like a butterfly with a stake through the chest. When I complained I was told that it was just in my head!? This did not sit to well with me. Back in Hospital when I was getting the port installed I talked with another gastroenterologists who happened to walk by. ... Oh you just loosen it up a bit.... Since then no problem at all!


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