Ben, losing your taste is something all of us go thru when we do radiation. It does vary from patient to patient. I was able to drink chocolate Yoo-Hoo thru out my treatments and enjoy a very slight chocolate taste. The cool thin liquid helped to soothe my sore throat. Plus it has alot of calories and vitamins in it.

After about 3 or 4 weeks post radiation you should begin to get your sense of taste back. This will be a very slow frustrating process. One day you will LOVE peaches and the next day they will burn the heck out of your mouth. It takes up to 2 years for this to return to your new normal. The new normal is the new you that is left after going thru all of your treatments and recovery. Its still you inside, that cant change. But outside you may appear different and you could have some after effects that stick around for a long time.

To make things easier to go thru, I would chose an upcoming holiday and use that as a marker to make small goals for myself. I had finished treatment the end of September 2007, my goal was to have a huge Thanksgiving dinner and actually sit down and eat with my family. I was able to accomplish this. At 2 months post rads, I was able to eat mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. It was the best food I ever tasted! My next goal was Christmas dinner which I did a little better with. You will get past this difficult phase in your life and get better. It just takes time and it can be frustrating taking 2 steps forward and one step back. Here is a list of easy to eat foods, they are a smoother texture and most of us can swallow them easier than dryer foods.
List of Easy to Eat Foods

Hang in there, you will get thru this!