Thankfully, he is doing well with the swallowing. I think as I've mentioned before it's the portions that makes the calorie intake difficult. He just seems to fill up so much quicker when he's eating regular food than he ever did in the past. And in general, food just doesn't interest him in the same way it did before.
I'm going to suggest the milk/can combo.
Did people find that their appetite slowly just starts coming back? I'm guessing the dry mouth doesn't help too much either in terms of enjoying a meal.