Feeding Tubes- Smart, or weak

depressed63 said:

I agree. I believe that the
I agree. I believe that the PEG is an essential part of treatment especially if the doctor has insisted that you have it. I need my husband to read these post. I would much rather him have it in case he needs it than to go to the ER for lack of nutrition and dehydration.

Thanks!

GERD
My husband also has GERD. He takes over the counter meds for it. He's allergic to the blue pill and our insurance doesn't cover much of the prescription type because it doesn't come in a generic form. He also has sleep apnea or sleep problems. He actually stops breathing when he stops snoring. He also gets up in the middle of the night drowning on liquids in his lungs. He's not a big guy and I think it has something to do with his tonsils but they didn't say anything about taking his tonsils out. He was suppose to get an EGD done and a PEG put in at the same time. Chemo is suppose to start next week. Since the treatment has changed from radiation 5 days a week and 1 chemo treatment every 21 days to the Induction Chemotherapy only, I'm wondering if he will get the PEG and the concern for his GERD worries me as well as his snoring. I use to complain about his snoring, but he scares me when he stops breathing. I have had to shake him to get him to breath when he stops snoring. It's not like that every night. I'm not sure if stress causes his snoring, GERD or his tonsils.

Kent Cass said:

Hmmmm
Well, I'm not sure about the direction this has headed, but I did ask if Doug's condition had been because of nausea, and I thank you both for answering that. In a way, this is another example of how different we all are. I, too, was also given the Emend before both of my 96-hour Chemo sessions with the two pumps/session, and also think there was another something they did, and was also prescribed Compazine in the two forms. Can honestly say that nausea was not a problem for me, which is the difference between us. Twice I woke in the morning with the heaves after sleeping around 4-hours early in tx, and it was obvious that bad mucous was the cause. Did take the Compazine pills for a couple days, but that was about it for the nausea. Did make adjustments, which likely helped in prevention, but it's hard to say if such was significant.

Another possibility for my lack of nausea, perhaps, is that I was getting all my intake thru the tube. Until now, I hadn't really thought of that. But, from the end of the 1st week to the end of the 8th of tx- all my intake was thru the PEG with Jevity 2.0, except for ice and sipping of water, and chopped-up pills and the liquid Morph. SO, MIGHT THIS BE A POSSIBLE WAY OF AVOIDING THE VOMITS- JEVITY, OR SIMILAR, VIA THE PEG? Again, the only vomits I got was right when I woke-up in the AM in bed. Of course, this is just my experience, but maybe one new truthful advantage to the PEG. Also, and I must stress this, like a lot of us I was spitting frequently, and carried a small bucket with me when I left the house, so I actually got very little substances in the stomach that had come into contact with the treated areas of my mouth and throat. Would be interested in other's experiences along these lines, so:

DID ANYONE ELSE GETTING CONCURRENT CHEMO AND RADS WHO FED EXCLUSIVELY THRU A PEG NOT HAVE NAUSEA ISSUES? AND, IF SO, WHAT LIQUIDS WERE YOU PUTTING IN YOUR PEG?

Also, since the discussion touched on the cost aspects, my out of pocket for the PORT and PEG placements, two pre-tx biopsies, numerous Dr. visits, and the treatment, came to $1500! I kept the billings itemized on paper for my records, and the actual provider charges came to $178,000, but those providers were content with only getting around 1/3 of that from United Healthcare, which still blows my mind.

And, again, DID ANYONE ELSE GETTING CONCURRENT CHEMO AND RADS WHO FED EXCLUSIVELY THRU A PEG NOT HAVE NAUSEA ISSUES? AND, IF SO, WHAT LIQUIDS WERE YOU PUTTING IN YOUR PEG?

kcass

Yep - Concurrent Cisplatin Chemo and Rads and Exclusive PEG
I felt quite poorly. I exclusively used the PEG for the last four weeks, and Jevity was the only product I used. I had to resort to using the pump to feed with, and to set the pumping rate very slow, in order to avoid nausea. I would feed roughly three cans during the day, scheduled so that I would never have a full stomach when they bolted me into the mask. Each small can was pumped in slowly, over about 45 minutes. When I went to bed at night, I would plug into a full feeding bag - three or four more cans of Jevity, and set the pump rate so that it fed all night long. The bag-empty alarm would go off at my usual wake up time. I did this for the duration of my chemo/rads. I never got really nauseous, and I didn't vomit. I never felt particularly well, but it could have been a lot worse.
Deb

Kent Cass said:

If
his chemo starts next week, and he doesn't have the PEG yet, I venture to say the PEG might not be in the works- though you've said the Dr's have advised for it. Typically, if one does get a PEG, the best scenario is before treatment starts, when the body is not also having to deal with the C&R and all it brings to the patient. Has your husband nixed the Dr's advise to get the PEG?

As for the sleep thing, I don't know all that much about sleep apnea, other than it is disrupted breathing at night. However, it seems most of us have our sleep change when going thru treatment- the time of individual sleeps is typically far less. Know others have spoke of this over the years. For me, I was happy just getting 3-hours uninterrupted sleep at a time. Anything more would result in mucous build-up that caused complications, so 3-hours was good for me. Other times of sleep each day/night was in the downstairs recliner, and more along the lines of naps, which others have also spoken of.

kcass

Thank Kent
I hope my husband follows the doctors advice. The radiation doctor requested it and for some reason I think my husband feels he doesn't need it right away now because he will be treated with the chemo first for five days and not the radiation next week. I sure hope I can convince him to get it before all this starts. Isn't the PEG needed for chemo too even if the radiation treatments don't start right away?

Thanks,

Donna

Kent Cass said:

If
his chemo starts next week, and he doesn't have the PEG yet, I venture to say the PEG might not be in the works- though you've said the Dr's have advised for it. Typically, if one does get a PEG, the best scenario is before treatment starts, when the body is not also having to deal with the C&R and all it brings to the patient. Has your husband nixed the Dr's advise to get the PEG?

As for the sleep thing, I don't know all that much about sleep apnea, other than it is disrupted breathing at night. However, it seems most of us have our sleep change when going thru treatment- the time of individual sleeps is typically far less. Know others have spoke of this over the years. For me, I was happy just getting 3-hours uninterrupted sleep at a time. Anything more would result in mucous build-up that caused complications, so 3-hours was good for me. Other times of sleep each day/night was in the downstairs recliner, and more along the lines of naps, which others have also spoken of.

kcass

Two Years Post
And three hours at a time is still pretty much my routine....which is actuallyquite a bit more than it was during treatment....

I still have some dry mouth at night. So between getting a sip of water and the dogs (our two chocloate labs) hearing me. I then have to get up and let them out for a pee and chase any neighbors cats break...LOL..

JG