As for whether there was a dramatic improvement in my swallowing ability. When I had the first big surgery that was not just a dilation but cutting open a complete stricture--yes, I'd say it was dramatic because before the surgery I couldn't swallow anything. Not water. Not my own saliva. A month before the surgery I gave part of a presentation at a national conference and had to stop to spit at one point. I had to to do that all the time. It was very embarrassing and obviously since I was so blocked up I was totally dependent on my gtube for nutrition. At the conference I mentioned, I had to ask for a place to feed myself during the lunch hour--I couldn't just bring an Ensure or a Boost and drink it.

After the surgery--I could swallow stuff but when I had the perforation right after they didn't want me swallowing anything-not even my saliva-because what I swallowed was leaking out of the esoph. into the chest cavity and that can cause a very nasty (potentially fatal) infection. Four or five days later they put a stent in my esophagus to cover the place where there was a performation and then temporarily I could swallow liquids and things like yogurt but was still having problems with anything more solid. Then a stricture started growing at the top of the stent so by the time I got that out (6 months later) I was hardly swallowing anything again and they had to do more cutting to remove the new stricture.

Since then I've been having dilitations on average every 3 months or so but still am pretty much unable to swallow even soft food that is not smooth (I am restricted to things such as yogurt, mashed potatoes or creamy soup). I am told the problem is now probably not the width of my esophagus so much as that my epiglottis doesn't completely close over my trachea when I swallow. I have apparently learned how to push liquids and smooth/mushy things like yogurt past the open area by the pressure with which I swallow and double-swallowing. But bits of stuff that are heavier go down the wrong way or get caught on the epiglottis.

I still have not given up trying to learn a way to get more stuff down though since giving up definitely means I am stuck at this level forever.

Sophie, I wish your husband the best of luck with this. I have had the worst of luck and I don't want to scare anyone by posting about this because all the factors I have had to deal with in combination are not so likely in combination. I joke that I'm one in a million!

Still, if I can be of support to someone else because of my experience at least that is something!

Nelie