Good luck on the stretching. Last week, my ENT surgeon reviewed the DVD of my 3rd MBS and concluded that an esophageal dilation would not help me. My VitalStim speech therapist moved my next MBS up to Nov 19th as I will have then completed 24 sessions.
It was discouraging to realize that the new 2.7 Million dollar NIH clinical trial on vitalStim type therapy explictly excluded patients like me for failing these eligibilty requirements as they indicate permanent swallowing damage.
[quote]# surgery to tongue if less than � of oral tongue or less than � of tongue base resected
# no floor of mouth muscles resected
# All primary tumor resections should predate the radiation treatment.[/quote]
I am already rationalizing why a lifetime PEG may be good:
no tooth decay, no eating "cardboard food" with no taste, insurance pays for my food, and of course, the ability to have Wine at happy hour. Good luck