Karen,
I agree with everyone else...expecting him to try something like chicken and dumplings is just plain wrong! Meat of any kind is very difficult to swallow. Dana's found that he could tollerate small amounts of KFC dark meat with lots of gravy...and lobster with lots of butter, but he couldn't even try these things until about 6 weeks after treatment. He also ate quite a bit of Stouffers frozen Cream Dried Beef on very light toast. I heated it in a pan and added whole milk to it. He had trouble with anything over room temperature...or under room temperature! He would eat very small amounts. I would come home from the store with all kinds of things to try...and I still have most of it! He was a picky eater too, but last week, he discovered that he now likes aspargus and corn! The RO explained that the taste buds are like a baby's and they need to learn what they can eat all over again. Dana was told that he needed about 3000 calories /day for his body to recover from the treatments, so supplement, supplement, supplement. I promise that things will start looking up soon. His RO told him that at 4-6 weeks after the end of treatment, he would "get better faster" and he did! The odd thing with Dana is that he doesn't remember some of the worst parts...and I'm just now finding that out. Just the body's way of getting you through the awful part, I guess. Hang in there...and come here often. Everyone here is so nice and they know so much about how to deal with this awful disease.
Diane