David, IMRT was not an option for me. Doctor said the full treatment was the best since I was pregnant and could not do any other treatments. So I had 70 radiation treatments! I can't believe I lived through that.
Also, I have added and added salt to my foods and now my B/P is going up.
My kids love the iced SWEET SWEET tea I make. LOL
Mary

Riley, I hope your taste starts coming back. Every day I try something different hoping I will taste it. Maybe that might have helped my taste buds? I'm still here waiting for my pizza hint to my dear darling wife. She won't get home till 10 pm but I'll try it if she brings it. I tried Chicken noodle soup today and I could taste everything a little except the darn chicken.

Mary, I had 35 IMRT's and concurrent chemo. I can't imagine 70 rads.

Stoj, I am now able to tolerate cold (just today)so I don't have to drink the VHC's room temp any more which was pretty bad. The cold is much better.

David, the chicken in canned chicken noodle soup doesn't have much taste, so if you want to jazz "canned" soup up, boil a couple of chicken thighs and add them to the soup. Thighs are more tender, juicier and more flavorful than white meat. Better yet, go buy a hen [not a fryer] and make your own soup- you can add carrots, onions, celery, etc. for flavor. Amy

My 2,

I still cant taste choclate, orange (very bitter), ketchup. etc. Still very sensitive to spice as well. Used to love hot sauce cant even look at it now. Red sauce on spaghetti, forget it.

Still dont like eating red meat unless its very rare. Well done meat taste like sand in my mouth. Even with something to wash it down. Very mealy.

I'll tell ya what though, sure am glad I am alive.

Have a great weekend.
-rh

Tom asks me to ask all you tasters what your pain level is when swallowing? It's been five weeks since he completed radiation and chemo. Like most of you report, he can taste the first bites, but it hurts a lot to swallow. He takes a dose of Oxycodone before eating to prepare but it still hurts. I try to convince him that it's just too soon but I'm glad he's trying.

He had some Campbell's beef noodle soup tonight and could taste it. He even chewed and swallowed the bits of beef, but the texture of the noodles was too sticky and he had trouble swallowing them.

David & Riley, we loved the cheeseburger stories! Until this, Tom was Mr. Cheeseburger and really looks forward to the day he can enjoy that again. Good luck with the pizza, David. Tom tried one bite of mine tonight and could taste it, but said it burned like heck-fire going down. Might have been the sauce.

Joyce

Friends,
It took a little while for the taste buds to come back. My problem was that, although the pain was gone, my swallowing function was so debilitated that I just could not swallow much. As the taste buds returned I could taste salty, like chicken soup and I used make chocolate milk shakes every day, which tasted great. Now I can taste most things and my swallowing function has gotten darn good...I love steaks, pizza, seafood, etc. and even eat popcorn, ( anything that is not spicy ) but things like sodas and Gatorade, which I used to love, don't taste sweet anymore. Cokes and Dr. Pepper taste syrupy so I just stick to water.

Good luck,
Danny G.

Tomswife, When was the last time he was scoped? What type of rad did he rec? I finished IMRT 9/28 and I don't have any as in no pain swallowing. I still don't have all my taste back so I am sticking with Carnation VHC because I get the most bang for the swallowing buck but I could and do swallow anything I want. I just don't enjoy that much. He may have an infection or his rad to that area may have been more intense than mine and remember we all can react differently to the same treatment. I would get him scoped just to see what's going on down there.

Tell him it's great to hear and feel that oinion and pickle CRUNCH inyour mouth again especially after watching 1,000,000 cheeseburger commercials on TV while at home during treatments.

But whatever, tell him to hang in there a little longer. Improvements are just around the corner.

Joyce,

Has Tom been to a swallowing/speech therapist? He's just about at the point in time when patients completying treatment are referred for a swallowing evaluation (fluoroscopic test) and then the therapists can suggest exercises to improve swallowng function. They can also ID strictures and ulcers, or other areas that could be causing pain.

If he isn't scheduled yet, ask your doctor about getting one. This is not limited to a major CCC, both of our relatively small local hospitals have swallowing/speech therapists and can give the test.

The exercises really help, even though my husband ate all the way through he was still aspirating thick liquids and had generalized muscle weakness and damage. His swallowing is virtually normal now and has been for some time, but he still does the exercises at least once a day as we were warned that problems can develop later as scarring or fibrosis can occur months post-radiation.

Gail

Thanks for the reminder about the speech/swallowig evaluation. Our RO nurse told us about that and, frankly, it had slipped our minds. I'll call on Monday.

David, Tom had 33 IMRT treatments following a tosilectomy. We do think the surgery has made the healing more of a challenge. He just saw his ENT a week ago who looked around and said he was doing fine.

Thanks for all the advice! I'm so glad to have this community to turn to!

Joyce

Tomswife, I did not require surgery and obviously that can make a big difference in the recovery process. The worst is behind him and it will only get better.