Tami, That last question egst right at why I ended up with a completely closed area of strciture too. It was closed in July when I had surgery but back last Christmas I was swallowing enough that there was way more room there I think. The reason it took so long for me is on the first barium swallow I had done locally (last November), the radiologist looking at it and the speech pathologist both MISSED the three areas of stricture. If they ahd caught it then I could have had a dilation, not the much more complicated surgery I had.

I assume your Mom was the same--she was eating stuff with some difficulty before she became completely closed up? I think for some people (liek me) it gets worse gradually but for others the esophagus can become completely closed right after radiation....