PEG vs Aspirational Pneumonia

[bichonbear1]

Mum has reached a new point in her illness and food intake is now causing her to be sick on occasion which is ultimately leading to seizures and a risk of choking. We have been told the only way to ultimately stop this is via a peg or accept that this will eventually lead to her choking getting pneumonia or sepsis. Has anyone got any experience of whether a liquid diet helped reduce this risk or whether a peg is ultimately a good decision?

[Zerachiel]

Hi

Have a read down this post for some pros and cons regarding feeding tubes

healthunlocked.com/psp/post...

A PEG or RIG will reduce the risk of aspirating but not remove the risk completely; control of saliva production with meds and mouth hygiene are extremely important due to bacteria and aspirating saliva.

My wife was sick in the night and had a small puddle of sick in her mouth and on the pillow (she was on her side) this led to Aspirational pneumonia.

[bichonbear1 in reply to Zerachiel]

Thank you, a helpful read.

[carehope]

Dear bb1,I don't know if the following applies to your situation or not but I'll start at ground level. What you have brought up here is just one of the many topics which we all should tackle preferably long before the need arises. That is, the importance of having Advanced Directives in place ; whether well or not, PSP afflicted or not . Advanced directives which include a "Living Will" and a "Health Care Proxy" in addition to a "Will" and "Durable Power Of Attorney" are essential in order to ensure that our future doesn't become a tangled mess for ourselves, our families, or the medical community that may be tasked with our care.

A "Health Care Proxy" and a "Living Will" stipulate who we want to designate to be in charge of making decisions regarding our care when or if we are not able to make them ourselves due to illness or accident.

In the U.S. , the family or the adult patient is always asked if the pt. has a Health Care Proxy when they need hospital services for any reason. The pt. has named two responsible adults; a primary and a secondaty choice as the person they've chosen to make essential decisions if needed and to be the person that medical personnel will be dealing with during the pt's care. A Living Will gives us the opportunity to state in as much detail as we would like , the extent to which we want medical intervention and which medical interventions we would want or not want in order to prolong or save our life. We are all hopefully capable of deciding before the need arises, if we would want to prolong our life by having a PEG placed.

This is a very personal decision. The ramifications need to be clearly explained and understood. Questions asked and answered to the patient's satisfaction. Some people know long before the need may arise what their choice would be . To others this may be something that they had never even considered until they're confronted with such a decision.

Your Mom needs to be able to make a well informed decision regarding the placement of a feeding tube. If your Mom is not capable of doing this then it would fall to her most trusted and capable designee to make that decision. Regardless of what is decided it is essential that you and your mother have an excellent lawyer assist you in formulating Advanced Directives if this hasn't been done already so that the best guidelines for your mother's future can be put in place. Coincidentally, others have posted re: all of these topics and more can be found on psp.org

Please research the particulars on your own in order to be well informed. You can Google key topics on your cell phone. Unfortunately Dr's typically don't have the time to sit down and discuss many of the necessary details.

Best of luck as you navigate along the way ❣️

Love,

Elise

[bichonbear1]

Thank you for coming back to me, my mum was unsure how she felt about a PEG at the point she was able to make decisions. It was the only decision not finalised. Mum had a dramatic deterioration about 2 years ago and without warning became unable to make decisions however, the subject of PEG has now become relevant. My dad has power of attorney and his view is not to fit a PEG but wants to be sure he is making the most informed decision now he faces it. The health professionals have said he needs to make it quickly. The question was just to draw upon any personal experiences that can support this decision making. It’s a very personal one for sure but the shared experiences on this site has been invaluable whilst we have navigated this journey from hell as a family.