Hey Rob. Sorry for the slow response. My first comment is to listen to your Doc and get cracking on the swallowing if you haven’t already. For me it has been easy to avoid solid food and swallowing in general but I think it will delay recovery. The more the complex set of muscles in the throat involved in swallowing are inactive, the longer it will take to retrain them to swallow effectively.

The list of soft foods and liquids to consume are only limited by your imagination. Christine has an excellent list of easy to swallow foods and, really, most anything that you would want to eat can be reduced to a liquid substance with enough water and blending!

My second comment is to push yourself a bit. You may not be getting much pleasure out of eating but think of food as your “medicine” to help with this stage.

Third, experiment with using liquids (water, gravy, butter, sour cream, table cream, milk, ...) as a substitute for saliva to help render solid foods to a state that they can easily swallowed.

Stay active and positive if you can. I feel best on days where I’m doing something productive or at least getting fresh air.

Best wishes for your recovery!