Hi Jamie,
First off I HAD to eat since I didn't have or want a PEG tube. I took morphine tablets for breakthrough pain prior to eating or drinking and sometimes used "pink magic" swish & spit to anesthetize my throat and cut the pain from swallowing. My throat was a burned out and blistered disaster area. I lost 60 lbs but am doing fine now.
It was no walk in the park. Everytime I threw up I knew I had to make up for it. It took all of my energy to acheive this. I still ended up in the ER twice to be rehydrated.
I HATED Ensure and Boost (made me gag) and got by with Carnation instant breakfast and milkshakes. Cold things seemed to work better. It was an unhappy time - thank God that it's passed -and it will pass.

Of course from all of the pain meds (including Fentanyl (Duragesic) patches I also had severe constipation, which by the way, also causes nausea. It also interupts homeostasis which contributes to dehydration and malnutrition -a real catch 22.

It's a toss up which was worse - the radiation burns and blisters or the constipation. My medical team could have done a better job managing the constipation.

The doctors recommended placing an ativan tablet in the compazine suppository and I did that as well.

IMHO you need to worry more about humanly transmittable bacteria. We kept the food prep and bathrooms disinfected as best we could. We used OTC products like Lysol and also a 10% solution of bleach and water (recommended by CDC) for disinfection. Beware of contaminated areas that are "choke points" such as banks and supermarkets (because everyone has to go there), door handles, etc. I used to wear gloves when shopping and still carry waterless disinfecting hand cleaner in my car. God knows what little snot nosed kid was putting his infected hands all over that shopping cart you're pushing around. My immune system totally crashed so this was not some kind of paranoid delusion. I avoided public places (even church) for quite some time. I would not allow my designated drivers (to radiation) to drive if they had sick family members. I asked others to open doors for me so I didn't have to touch the handles. I also asked people who were sick to stay away. If I sensed that I was in a room with a sick person I would leave immediately. Went I went to the SS office I waited in my car and made them come and get me - that place was FULL of sick persons -probably helped with my SSDI claim -who knows?. It worked well - I haven't had so much as a head cold the entire time - even now.

You may want to pay closer attention to the cat box. Animals can transfer worms so I wouldn't let them be licking any open wounds.