Hi Amy, this is a pretty common problem and truthfully it's trial and error because every patient has a different taste that works for them at the point your Dad is at. For Jack it was cream cheese so we added that to scrambled eggs. Everything else pretty much tasted like cardboard to him but that was a temporary situation. If tang works for your Dad he should go with it.

After radiation stops taste starts to come back. Jack got salty taste back first but sweets took a long time for him. He still has issues with mixed tastes in desserts, and some things are not quite as strong as before. But he feels it's a small price to pay for his life.

Like your Dad, he loves food - he spent most of his recovery watching the food network, which at the time seemed a little nuts to me. However, it gave him hope, something that he could look forward to enjoying again. He visulized that one day he would be eating whatever they were showing on TV - and now he is. Tell your Dad to think about the time that treatment will end and when he will start to get to his new life as a cancer survivor. It will get better.

I think you should tell your Dad what you've found in your research because he's going to find out for himself soon enough and being prepared is better. Also you can let him know that this too shall pass and that you've been in contact with people who have been there and gotten better. That was really helpful for Jack.

It's really important to keep up his calories so the feeding tube will facilitate that. But he also needs to keep swallowing - even a little bit - when using the tube because it will help his recovery afterwards.

Regards JoAnne