Hi Lisa, I was diagnosed on 1/15/03 with SCC at the base of tongue which had spread to the lymph nodes on one side of my neck. I finished my treatments on April 11 which included 6 weeks of radiation and 2 rounds of chemo. During my treatment, especially after my second round of chemo, things begin to taste really bad, a lot of things seemed to taste "burnt" to me. Like many others I eventually had to go to a PEG tube to keep my nutrition up. I lost 30 pounds during treatment and also had a couple of trips to the emergency room because of dehydration. I eventually lost all of my taste. I'm now 10 weeks out and I can report that my taste is ever so slightly starting to come back. I started 4 weeks ago trying to get back to regular eating. It's been a challenge for me as eating seems to irritate my throat quite a bit. A small victory for me happened last week when I went to a mexican food restaurant with my family and downed a cheese enchilada with some refried beans. So my message is be patient, things will get better! My radiation oncologist told me it would be 6 months before I would get most of my taste back.

RAZ