Hi everyone. My husband (59) is currently in hospital with aspiration pneumonia. He has been nil by mouth for a week and we are now being advised that he may need a PEG insert as his swallowing is very poor. Does anyone have any experience with PEG inserts? Does this mean you never eat anything again? He loves his food so he wont be a happy man if he never gets to eat again! Any experiences re swallowing difficulties and PEG inserts will be welcome.
You can eat with PEG tubes. The issue is how bad his swallow is. PEGs can be used to top up oral intake and if the swallow only allows a small amount of intake then you can effectively eat for taste and get the nutrients from the PEG. You need to to talk to his doctors and the speech and language therapists to find out what they think and your husband needs to decide what he wants.