I share the same experience with just about everyone above. I am 10 weeks out from radiation and don't have an apetite or saliva. I have to force myself to eat. I drink one of those carnation VHC drinks for breakfast and lunch, and try to each a frozen dinner for supper that involves pasta with sauce, mashed potatos with gravey, meatloaf with gravy, swedish meatballs with noodles, and pudding for desert. I took me a month and a half after treatment to attempt to start eating these kinds of foods. A month after my treatment ended my ENT asked why I wasn't eating more solid foods? I was only eating cream soups and pudding. He sent me down for a swallowing test in which I found out I had no problem swallowing more solid foods, but just had to learn to chase it with water or a drink. My ENT said if I didn't use my swallowing muscles I would loose them, making it more difficult to eat in the future and possibly needing to have my throat stretched open.

Right now I live with the fear of going through my first PET scan in three weeks, since the treatment ended 10 weeks ago. I am praying that the radiation and chemo cleared it all up. I didn't have surgery. ENT felt rad/chemo would do the trick of totally shrinking the tumor, and surgery would involve taking almost half my tongue out. I have found a few success stories of people not having surgery and try to assure myself it is possible.

Tom