Hi Lynne, welcome to OCF. There are many survivors who have gone thru similar treatments. Recovery can take a long time. Dont despair! It really will get easier. Swallowing is something that if you dont do it, your muscles will forget and have to be retrained how to do it again. This is why even with a peg tube we always advise patients to swallow every single day even if it hurts. I think your reday brek sounds like our cream of wheat warm cereal. If it is, I eat that every single day. You are only 2 months post rads so Im not surprised that you still have pain and sores. A diet that is high in protein will help your body to recover quicker. Here we have some high protein whey powder that can be added to drinks. Keep doing what you are doing and begin to push yourself a little more to eat even a few bites more every single day. Eventually you will get there and be able to be free of that darn tube.

The gunky mucous will usually hang around for a few weeks then it will turn into dry mouth (get those swallowing muscles ready to drink tons of water). Recovery from oral cancer treatments can take months for a full recovery. In fact it can take a full 2 years. Doctors say it takes a month of recover for every week of radiation so you see you really are doing pretty good. Make small daily goals and gradually increase them until you are pretty close to your normal routines.

Best wishes with your recovery!