Welcome Peter.

Sounds you are really up to speed with doing your reading here and getting informed about the process and typical side effects and pretty rough ride through treatment. Feel free to post on your specific issues as they arise. I asked a ton of questions, being one who wants to know every detail and go in eyes wide open.

"but my surgeon isn't a fan of that because he's seen better swallowing outcomes by not having the tube." Not having a tube makes eating a whole lot more painful but there are fewer long term swallow related issues. Seemed like a no brainer to me to give it a try and eating was painful but in the grand scheme of pain, this particular source was not all that much a big deal. You'll get both sides on this topic in plenty.