John,

If the "scar tissue" you are referring to is a stricture in your esophagus there IS a surgical solution. I was in your shoes, except the stricture had become complete, and I had surgery at Brigham and Women's hospital, in Boston, that cut through the stricture and dilated my esophagus. Since then, I have had to go back for more esophageal dilitations and I had an unusual and slightly scary complication during the original surgery (but luckily I was at a hospital rated as one of the best in the country and they found a solution and, as I said, that kind of complication is very rare).

I have only partially regained my swallowing ability--I can still only swallow smooth fluids (soups, etc.) and some things with a little more substance (yogurt, mashed potatoes, grits, etc.) but no real food with any chunks of stuff in it. This is because I had more wrong than just the stricture but probably also because of the amount of time when I went without swallowing much before I had the surgery (my doctors here were slow to diagnose the cause as a stricture--long story). So there is good reason to try to get this surgery ASAP--and in the menawhile, keep swallowing the fluids you can swallow.

Brigham and Women's isn't the only place that does this surgery, though my impression is they are few and far between, especially if you have a complete stricture or an almost complete one. I think they do it at Sloan-Kettering too.

Anyway, feel free to send me a message and when I can I'll give you more info.

Nelie