Husband's Treatments Start Monday Morning

Hello, RAKGA, Glad to hear from you, and thanks for the update on your husband.

Sorry that he was confirmed with cancer but the good news is it is p16 positive. That reacts much better to treatment and is easier to eradicate. Thankfully also it is only stage 1 with only a few lymph nodes affected. It sounds like he is getting the standard 35 rounds of radiation in conjunction with doses of chemotherapy.

I am glad he elected to get the PEG tube ahead of time. I am sorry to hear he had pain with it. This was all new to me also and in my case the care team that was running my treatment knew what effects my treatment would have on me and would not start treatment till I had a PEG put in. My PEG was on an outpatient basis but I too had some pain and discomfort after the procedure and before I left the hospital they took me back and put me in some sort of a machine that could scan me and checked to make sure that the PEG was in fact installed properly. The findings were that yes it was in properly and all was OK. My pain in the meantime had diminished quite a bit so I decided it would be OK to go home. My wife was driving me home and about halfway home I started to get pain again and she pulled over and asked if I wanted to go back to the hospital. After sitting there a bit I decided it was a tolerable pain and discomfort and no go ahead and go home. Once home I could relax and I am not sure exactly how long it was till there was no pain at all and no discomfort but I would say a day or two. But I think once you get home you can find ways to be comfortable till your body adapts to the new thing it has to deal with. I think part of this period is your body trying to get used to something that is unnatural to it. Once I had it for a short period of time it didn't bother me at all anymore. Now all I had to do was get used to this tube in my belly but the fact that it is temporary is a help with that, just a helpful addition to get you through this treatment and period in your life. As far as holding the tube in place and easy and cheap solution was presented to me by my nurse navigator. Just cut the top elastic off a pair of old underwear and it works as a band to keep the tube secured instead of dangling all over the place.

I have never heard of running a low vacuum on the feeding tube but apparently, it will verify that everything is OK with the installation. You say his belly muscles are pulling on the PEG and I think I had a similar effect, we all do it is just a matter of time and getting used to it and after a while, he won't even think about it. You may not even need to use it but if you do need it I call it a friend and a lifesaver. Please tell him not to be depressed because this was just a small issue in the grand scheme of this treatment and till you are done with his treatments and recovery there will be many emotional ups and downs so you just gotta go with the flow, roll with the punches so to speak and keep the goal, the prize in mind, getting through treatment and then recovery. You will not regret getting the feeding tube or the Port, I had one and I tell ya they are a great vein saver.

Please keep us updated and if we can offer any help we are more than happy to do so to make the road you are traveling a little easier for you, for your husband.

Prayers your way, May God Bless and sustain you through this.

Take Care, God Bless

Russ

Remember our Motto NEGU (Never Ever Give Up)