Lynne, I'm sorry to read about all you're going through. I too did it basically by myself albeit in the midst of a huge city. It's not easy, but you have all of us here now to help.

Everyone has given you great advice. I've heard that swallowing can indeed become a lost art if not kept up, unfortunately, but I'll let those you know about this subject comment.

How well I relate to the pain of swallowing. Sometimes it was just about unbearable, and like most people I lost a bunch of weight during treatment. But the sores will heal. Do you have access to viscous lidocaine? I found it was the only thing that gave me even a modicum of relief, albeit mainly for sores in the mouth and not down the throat. But you might ask your team about it because it can't hurt.

I too am a vegetarian. But unlike you I have a huge sweet tooth. I can certainly relate to wanting some foods and not being able to even think about others. I basically didn't eat anything solid for 6 months beginning about the second week of rads, and I consider myself to have had it easy.

Keep us posted. Keep trying to swallow, even if it's just water. Also let us know how things went with the speech therapist. I found that it helped me quite a bit.

My thoughts are with you.