One week done, phew!

Hi bluebird

Just had rig put in Thursday, different to your husbands as I think it's done via radiotherapy ie visually I mean feel ok tho stomach a little tender still but ok start chemo radiotherapy this Thursday how,d he go on with sickness re chemo

Discomfort from PEG/RIG fades very quickly , did for me and has for virtually everyone I've come cross. Can be really bad for a short while though, make sure hubby takes all pain medication offered! How was the fitting of it for him? Many find it very easy but for me it was very traumatic (albeit for a very short amount of time, just a few minutes probably).

You'll be amazed how quickly the weeks will fly by now, treatment will be over before you know it.

Hi

Thank you for  your reply, he’s taking regular paracetamol as advised. Coughing and hiccups which he seems to be experiencing regular boughts of hiccups are quite uncomfortable and bending down is a no no. Just hoping it settles in the next couple of days. The area around is clean and no issues that can be seen. So hopefully it will pass as expected. 

The insertion was traumatic as they FORGOT to give him the sedation till 3/4 they the procedure and being awake and aware it was very distressing and uncomfortable. They also forgot to give him any fluids even though he had just had chemo the day before and was dehydrated and nmb, so now just a bit worried at the minute about his kidneys as he was supposed to be well hydrated the next day. So it’s not been an easy week, just hoping all is well and he’s ok for the next chemo on Tuesday. 

Do you know if you have to have another endoscopy to have it taken out later on when it’s not needed ?

Lesley 

No Lesley, removal is dead easy and totally painless I'm happy to say. Sorry the insertion was nasty, I feel his pain and remember it well.

Hi Martin

Glad you are feeling ok after the Rig, great that they got it in before the chemo radio starts, I think that’s possibly why this week has been a bit difficult because it all came together for my husband. 

The drugs they gave him during and 3 days post chemo seemed to control any potential nausea/ sickness issues really well. He has finished the 3 days of regular ones and today he’s just feeling mildlY nauseas and low appetite so has taken some of the ones he has he can take ad hoc when this occurs . All in all he hasn’t had too much of an issue with that, hope I’m not jinxing that . 

Hope all goes well for you next week with treatment. Let us know!

best wishes 

Lesley

Hi Mike

That’s good to know about the removal, thank you, sorry to hear it was awful for you too. It’s such a shame when it doesn’t have to be like that!

best Wishes 

Lesley

Hi Lesley

You mentioned you were worried about your husband's kidneys because of dehydration. If he keeps drinking fluids ahead of his next chemo on Tuesday he should be fine.  I used to have early morning chemo and because it was a long journey I would often turn up dehydrated because it hadn't been practical to drink much beforehand.  It didn't seem to be a problem, they would just put a large bag or two of water through my drip before the chemo went through.  I also had to regularly test my urine with ph sticks to make sure everything was functioning properly.  

As others have said the discomfort from tube insertion should settle down in a week or two and the removal is quick and pain free.

Best wishes to you and your husband.  xx

Hi Margaret

Thank you, I think next week we will definitely work harder at him drinking more, the issue last week was that they put him Nmb the next day to have his peg in, so he couldn’t drink to flush it out. He seems to be making up for it now!

Thank you for your help and will try the ph sticks to if all ok  

best wishes 

Lesley 

Hi Lesley

Sorry to hear your husband had a traumatic experience - hopefully the pain will subside fairly quickly, OH found he was off pain meds after a day or so from his RIG fitting. Interestingly, he wasn't offered any sedation at all, just local anaesthetic - I guess its added in when as and when the patient requires it? It can't have been nice having it done after other treatment had started though :-(.  After fitting, he had to have 10 hours of fluids thru the RIG before being allowed to eat, he found this hard cos he was starving!!!!! Since the op, he has been surfing constantly, so the air seems to be taking a long time to exit the body for him too.

Good luck to you both, hope he's more comfortable now

Ricoshay x

Hi Ricoshay

glad to hear your husband has made a good recovery from the RIG insertion. Things were initially a bit rocky this end but a better day today, thank goodness ! 

Hoping now that we get the rest of this week a bit more stable. 

Hes now has 2 chemos and 8 radiotherapy sessions, so after this week , 4 more to go. . 

Hope things continue to go well at your end!

L