Karen--you captured it really well: It is not the same as, and is worse than, food simply not having much taste. It sounds like your husband is quite the cook. My concern would be that all those added ingredients would be, to me, in the "tastes bad" category. I literally cannot find anything other than boost that my mouth does not reject. My poor wife has tried everything she can think of and may be getting frustrated that I cannot get myself to drink more boost. So I am going to power through it and, as you suggest, add in all the calories I can (e.g. mixing boost with whole milk). I hope your recovery goes as well as it can.

David--thank you for your thoughts; it's good to hear from people who are further along in recovery, as when you are in the middle of the bad times it's hard to keep a focus on the future being better. Others have suggested that I not fight the nasal tube and found it helpful as you did, so I may end up going that route. May not have a choice if I cannot pound down more oral calories over the next few days!