Hi,
My mom's surgeon has suggested stretching her throat...for the third time. Another doctor we spoke with, albeit not a surgeon or a GI doc, suggested that doing it more than one time may cause more harm than good. I trust the surgeon implicitly, and she made it clear that it may not help. Foolishly I didn't consider the potential harm that may occur. I was more focused on mom's potential of being able to eat orally again. I will contact the surgeon about this matter, but was curious if anyone has had multiple streetchings and if they found it beneficial or can shed any light on why we may not want to do it again. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
Dave

Mom's caregvr. DDS failed to dx 01/03. Dx Stg IV SCC 05/03. Induct. chemo, IMRT, 5FU, H, Iressa, Neck disect, radiation. Dad's caregvr. Dx 01/04 Ext. Stg SCLC. Mets to liver/bone 08/04. Died 11/12/04. Mom tongue CA dx 06/13, hemiglossectomy (80% removed) 08/13. Clean margins and nodes, but PNI. 6/15/15: Tongue CA at base of remnant tongue. Declined further tx; hospice.
Died 10/13/15. What a long and difficult journey.