Karen,

Thank you for sharing your experience. In John's case, the cause of the pooling seems to be a bit different. It seems that there is blockage from either fibrosis or scarring, as well as the thick mucous sitting in the throat directly above the esophagus. Like Alex, his epiglottis is starting to work again though it is not closing properly -- hence the choking when the liquid comes back up. I was in the room when the radiologist who was looking at the video said in a small voice to the SLP that "It does not look good at all." At the end of the session, the SLP said that there wasn't anything else that she could do for us. The surgical oncologist simply refused to do a dilation as he deemed it a temporary measure and not a real solution.

We will now have to wait and see what the gastroenterologist can and will do.