Do try and get him to use his swallowing muscles every day. Those muscles tend to quickly "forget" their function and can and does in some, lead to lifelong swallowing difficulties. Try and put this in perspective that the usual time that most of us have issues with this Tx is from the 4th week during Tx to the 3rd week Post Tx so we are talking about a short, relatively speaking, 7 to 8 week nasty time. As Chris says, take it one day at a time. Set daily goals, such as 5 cans of Boost VHC and 6 cans of water. I spread my cans throughout my waking day. One can when I woke and 1 can ever hour thereafter. If I felt spunky I would do 2 just in case I didn't feel up to it later. Trust me I didn't make my goal every day but every day I woke up to a new goal.

David

Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.