Well, Steve had his lymph nodes and some muscle on the right side of his neck removed on April 22. Recovery is slow, but coming along. We noticed that the need to spit all of the time has decreased since the surgery. (they also stretched his ephosagus at the same time) The staples come out tomorrow, so perhaps that will help with the pain. We're anxious to get the pathology reports on the nodes. He is trying to eat more by mouth now and we haven't used the tube for about 10 days except for meds. Corn flakes with banannas are his favorite. If he mentions anything at all that he thinks sounds good, we give it a try. Some work, some don't. Thanks to everyone for all of the good info.