Could I lose the Tube?

Hi Y'all,
I'm pretty excited today, actually have been all week. Monday I got a call from one of the docs who had worked on me while I was in the hospital back in November. He is a GI specialist who tried to install my feeding tube but was unable to do it the conventional way because he was unable to get an endoscope down my throat. As I have told you before I have a lot of scarring in my throat and the opening to my esophagus has narrowed significantly. In medical-speak this narrowing is called a stricture. This stricture is the reason I cannot swallow properly.

So anyway this doctor calls me out of the blue, I had not heard from him since before he attempted the feeding tube. For him to remember me and call me when we met only briefly I thought was amazing! He asked if I would be interested in trying a procedure that would stretch the opening to my esophagus and therefore help with my swallowing. They insert a device like a balloon in my throat and inflate it so that it expands the opening. Pretty cool, eh? So I checked out the procedure a little on the Internet and decided to go for it. He did say that it would most likely take more than one attempt in order to get it stretched out far enough. I have an appointment for the first attempt tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. They use conscious sedation (or what they call twilight sleep) so I am able to come home tomorrow night right away, assuming things go as planned.

I'm REALLY excited about this because anything that can get me off the feeding tube and eating actual food would be very welcome. I'm sure if it works I would still have to gradually work my way back into eating solid food but it would be progress in the right direction.

Wish me luck - I'll report back sometime over the weekend to let you know how it went.

Be Well - Be Blessed

Ken