Well I had the dilation yesterday morning. The procedure took less than 30 minutes and went well - definitely an improvement. The doctor found that instead of general narrowing, I had more of a band formed across my esphogus. My earlier swallow test revealed 2 separate strictures, so my guess is they bonded together to form a 'bridge'; not sure of the thickness. He was able to break through and I can now swallow again (it had closed to the point of not being able to get anything, even saliva, down). He said he didn't want to overdue it in one session so he wants to do it again in a week or two; it will give him a chance to see if/how it responds and also to open it a bit further. Gee - so much fun the first time, let's do it again.

My throat is quite sore today; pain meds help a lot. I am drinking as much as I can and taking soft foods. Jury is out for what all this means in the long run, so as always just trying to focus on one day at a time.

As alway, my prayers and best wishes to all.