If you are having trouble opening your jaws, you do need to begin now to gently force them to open. You can begin by doing it yourself, with "jaw power" and also with your hands. I could not open my mouth wide enough to allow a spoon to pass at first, and my surgeon warned me that I needed to begin to work on it before it become a permanent problem. He ordered the Therabyte (very simple device, but very expensive....covered by insurance when prescribed, but available without prescription--search on the internet for information...They have a website) and until it came in, I worked on opening from time to time all day long.....I still do at one year. Check with your surgeon to be sure that there is not some medical reason to wait for this exercise, but you don't want to wait too long. My surgery was in January also, but I didn't have the radiation that you have had. I see that you express mostly problems with eating because of the radiation and not with trismus, but if you have difficulty physically opening your jaws, then you do need to ask...now...about exercising them.

Take Care.