Hi Brian and everyone, thank you for responding.
The thing is my sister had radiation 2 years ago, started to get better and she now has the worst sores down her throat than any of her other sores before this. Its been 3 months and no relief, losing tons of weight and can barely eat. Drugs and even steroids aren't helping at all. I am hoping that with the feeding tube, if she decides to get one, she can give her throat a break to heal because eating must be irritating it even more.

Any suggestions on what the best place to put the feeding tube is? I heard you can choose where to place it on your body? Is this true? Any and all tips will be helpful. Thank you

You will not have a choice. The best place is the shortest distance between the outside wall of your chest, just below the rib cage and the stomach. The shortness of the tube make it hygienic, keeps the procedure to put it in simple and to the point, avoids other structures, nerves, and blood vessels, and can be hidden under your shirt when not actually in use. Be thankful that it is not 7 years ago when feeding tubes were larger and routinely placed through the nose. You would have this three inches of tube hanging out of your nose for months............ The technique has come along way since those days. Just let them do what they are going to do.

Hi Eli.........Brian is right, just let them do what they are going to do. Your sister may be uncomfortable the day of the surgery and possibly a little sore for a day after that. By the second--third day, she'll be just fine. Hopefully she'll begin to feel better once she has some nourshiment and liquids going into her system. I had my feeding tube well over a year with little problem, and I am so glad that I listened to the Doctors when they suggested I have one put in. Even with the feeding tube I had trouble keeping my self hydrated and nourished. I just never felt like eating; I never really felt hungry. But with the tube I could put myself on a schedule and just feed because I had to not because I wanted to. It just made everything so much simplier, and I'm sure I healed quicker because of the nourshiment I was able to get with the feeding tube in place. Good luck to both you and your sister. SIncerely, Donna

Thank you all for your advice on the feeding tube, I am not worried about it if they say I need one. I thought I was going to have my first RAD yesterday, but got 3 x-rays and met some of the people who will be doing the RAD. Today will be the first, and I am very fearful but I"ll have to be strong and hope for the best. I had the radical neck surgery 3/6/02, have the scar and numbness and still find this hard to believe. Can anyone relate? I am very thankful for this forum as I pretty much feel alone. I have a husband and family, but I don't think they can believe it either. Wish me luck. Thanks, Marlene

Marliz (and others) - you asked if anyone could relate. I certainly can and I'm sure there are many others who do also. That is what makes this site so wonderful. There are others out there who have gone through or are going through similar experiences. I now have 2 scars - 2 neck dissections 14 years apart. Both times I was very self conscious about the scar right after the surgery and found various ways to cover it up. Now I'm not so concerned about them. My numbness did get better although I still have some numbness on my face along my jaw line and one side of my neck. Good luck with the radiation.

Hi All,
I recently had a peg tube put in (Dec 15th)and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of how to support it. Right now, I am still having to use 4X4's and tape because I ended up with an infection. How do you keep it from dangling besides looping it and taping it? My mom suggest a tube top, but I am still in treatment in Chicago. Being winter it would be near impossible to find a tube top in Chicago.
Thanks, Becky

What I did with my first PEG, and will do with the one I'm getting tomorrow, is use a neck lanyard that came with a USB storage device (aka dongle, thumbdrive, etc.). It has a clip so the PEG is easily removed and reattached. Even a string would work without the pain of tape.

My second PEG pointed down and was a problem in this regard.

Becky,

We had wonderful luck with a nice 4 (6 inch even better if you can find it) wide ace bandage...the soft ones with the velcro closure..[b]not[/b] the rubbery self stick ones. They are washable and you will need two or three to have a clean change. Just wrap it around the torso a couple of times and close with the velcro making sure the loop tape is not exposed to the skin.

Bill could not tolerate any kind of tape for more than a day...really made his skin sore and rashy. He could just reach under the ace and bring the tube out when it was feeding time and then tuck it back in afterwards. It stayed in place even during sleep and didn't show thru his shirts.

Hope this helps...Deb

Radiation nursing staff gave us a long length of stretchy netting that could be cut to width needed and put on over head (like a tube top). It also stood up to washing.