Havng some apparent activity on a CT scan so soon after end of treatment is not at all unusual, so probably not a reason for concern. Did you also have a PET scan at same time? Most top CCCs now do a fused PET/CT just to avoid "false positives" which are more common with PET or CT alone -- which can lead to unnecessary surgeries. (They are also not unknown with fused scans, which is why doctors also rely on other tests.) For example, our ENT said, if the PET/CT showed a suspicious area, he would order an MRI and then, probably also wait a month a re-do PET/CT to see if the suspicious area healed (or had changed). And a biopsy if the area were accessible (such as the base-of-tongue area). This before any surgery would be planned.

Re the latter, BOT surgery can cause quite a few problems later with swallowing and speech -- ask about the possible side effects and be sure that you have a therapy plan in effect if the surgery ends up being done.

Did they give you exercises to improve your swallowing? Sometimes this is all that is needed -- but they may take months to show real improvement. My husband also had a problem with the cracker during his swallowing test, but he didn't have a stricture, it was weakness of swallowing muscle bundles plus rawness of his throat which was the real issue. 3-4 months of exercises pretty much resolved the problems...having said that, the dilations folks on this forum have reported seem to be relatively straight-forward and relatively effective.

Gail