Kelly,

Welcome to OCF...you will find many answers to your questions here, and the answers will vary by person. I am not a technical person or in the medical profession, but I can talk to you from my experiemce and things I've read.

I finished radiation on January 25th and I find my taste has been returning ever since I finished. Although I have lost some taste (such as chocolate) most all is back. It has changed and some things I didn't care for I like now and vise versa.

I would believe a lot depends on the area radiated, mine was for tonsil cancer...had throat, jaws, and chest radiated.

Some people lose more than just one taste - such as sweet or salty. Some return, some don't. I guess what I'm saying is that everyone is different, and the process takes different lengths of time for different people. There are people here two years out still gaining taste back.

Look at the positive side and believe that as soon as his radiation is over he will start healing as we all have. It is slow, but it does happen. The first couple of weeks after radiation are tough, but then things will start to turn around.

Right now you need to concentrate on him getting the nutrients he needs, from what I've read he should be having at least 8 cans of Ensure or the equivalent a day to stay as healthy as possible.
This is a must if he is going to get through this and heal.

Take care,
Dinah