Thank you for the tribute to your friend.
About feeding tubes-for those of you not in the medical field or having experience with a family member who used one-I want to explain that they are not the benign things they are often made out out to be. Especially when used with someone who has poor overall health. I won't list the complications here, but there are many and they can cause a lot of "discomfort" (medical terminology for pain) for the patient. I would even say that I feel many times their use is abusive and inhumane.
They can be used successfully in many medical situations, but that does not always (or usually) transfer over to terminally ill people.