Update on esophageal stricture .
After 2 failed endoscopies and a failed largnealscopy(sp) my husband had a successful Esophagogastroduodenoscopy done at Memorial Sloan Kettering by Dr Moshe Shike last Thursday. He is a gastro.(Sp) Doctor and he went in with a guide wire from his peg tube through the bottom of his esopaghus while an ENT ,Dr. Patel went in with a light through his mouth to guide Dr Shike.They have created an opening and my husband was able to swallow small sips of water in the recovery room. He is being dialated there again this Friday. They do not want the opening to reclose. They are estimating that he will need 2 more dialations after this Friday and then as needed.
It is painfull for my husband to swallow though he managed a 20 ' bottle of water in the last day. His swallowing muscles have atrop smile hied and his throat is still raw. Dr Shike says this too will passs. No quarantees that he will be ever able to eat steak or bread but this surgery will do a lot.
**** Joni- I can't figure out how to reply to you so I hope you are reading this. Dr Shike operates on many esophageal strictures and said that they are successful 90% of the time. We still have a long way to go and we know we are in the new normal- but at least there is cause to hope!
My husband was dx 11/9/05. T2N2M0 rt tonsil and lymgh node involvement on both sides/ 9 chemos and 7 weeks 5x aweek IMRT/ finsihed treatment 3/9/06 c

Joni-

caregiver to Gil dx SCC 11/05 T2N2M0
finished tx 3/10/06 stage 4 rt tonsil,BOT,2 lymphnodes,35IRMT,6 chemo