Gerry, Is your husband's stricture a complete stricture? Do they know how long it is? I had a stricture that was complete, by the time of surgery, removed surgically about a year and 1/2 ago. I had been using the PEG for over a year then. Since then I have slowly regained some swallowing function. Although it is not (yet) what I had hoped, my quality of life is far better than when I had a complete stricture. I can go out and eat (a limited range of things) with my spouse.

If doctors are discoutraging your husband because they don't think the stricture can be oeprated on, I think you should get another opinion. There are probably docs at Sloan Kettering that do the same surgery I had at Brigham and Womens/Dana Farber in Boston but if you want I'll give you the names of my docs in Boston. I don't know where you are in New Jersey--I am in upstate NY and drive 6 hours one way to get there but they have a lot of expertise in this surgery that I think not many docs have.

There are also exercises he can be doing to strengthen his muscles that may have atrophied from not swallowing--one is called the Shaker exercise--he could start doing that now. There are others too. Has he been seen by a speech pathologist who has some experience treating people with swallowing disorders?

There is a lot of misunderstanding about swallowing problems after radiation and a lot is not known because after all we're a small group of folks who get these problems and there's not a lot fo formal research but I strongly synmpathize with your husband and I thinkit is at least possible there is hope he could get that stricture operated on.

Nelie