Hi,
my dd2 had a narrowing of the oesophagus caused by scarring. She drank russian vinegar (75% acid) at 18 months and it healed, but narrowed as it healed. Fortunately the tissue was healthy and soft, just very narrow. We were living overseas, and had to return to UK for treatment. By the time she had treatment she was on milk and thin purees.
She had a barium swallow which diagnosed the narrowing. Then she had an endoscopy stretch. Basically the endoscope stretches as it goes down, and there is a little camera on it and they can use different sizes to stretch it and then a bit more and a bit more etc.
Her oesophagus was down to 1mm. So the first time they stretched her up using 3 different sizes, up to about 5mm. The consultant told us that it would shrink down a bit before the next stretch. He was expecting it to go down to about 3mm. Then the next one would go up a bit further to about 8mm and then shrink to 5mm and so on, until it was the right size (at 18 months it should have been about 10-15mm)
He could only go up 3 sizes at a time. If he went too far he risked perforating the oesophagus, which is really serious and to be avoided at all costs.
After each stretch she could eat much more, and then over the next 3 weeks we would gradually have to go back to milk and puree.
Unfortunately, for dd, it shrank back to 1 mm every time. After 8 stretches the consultant started to talk about putting in a stent (like a wire mesh tube) to hold it open, but he really wasn't keen to do such an interventionist operation. Fortunately the ninth stretch held open at 5 mm and so after 13 stretches her throat was finally sorted. She was then 2.5years old. Over the next couple of years she has been mostly able to eat anything, but occasionally she would go through a phase of food getting stuck , especially if she is worried about something so she is tense. It seems to be her weak spot.
She is now 5 and is totally fine and able to eat anything, and it seems to be growing normally as she grows, so she probably won't need any more (it is possible that it doesn't grow and she would need one every 2-3 years).
I have a friend whose daughter has to have stretches after being born with a problem, and in her case the area to be stretched is due to a scar after an operation. But her case is pretty similar to my dds, in terms of the treatment she had.
In between stretches when she was only on milk, we were prescribed special high nutrient milk which was a complete meal.
MrsDavie - my friend's daughter had a malformation which was a thin tube (has a special name which I can't remember) which went from her bronchial tube to her oesophagus. She had other things to, but she had ongoing coughing and breathing issues which they coudln't get to the bottom of, and it turned out to be this tube. It meant that liquid was going into her lungs when she ate. When they removed it the was dramatic overnight improvement.
Don't know if any of that helps. We were at Bristol Children's hospital, consultant was amazing, can't remember his name