Len,

Congrats on finishing treatment. As you have read on here - now is a really tough time. Especially the 3-4 weeks after. You continue to feel worse. That is the build of the radiation and chemo.

One rule of thumb I was always told on this site is 1 month of recovery for every week of treatment. Although each of of is different and our body handles the side effects differently.

Another reality is that you won't notice some of the improvement - it is so gradual that we as patients don't notice till down the road - and low and behold you're eating something you couldn't eat just a few weeks before.

I first ate things with lots of gravies...mashed potatoes and creamed soups. Chicken cut very small with gravy on it. Almost all things at first needed to be washed down with water. Even strawberry shortcake worked for me a couuple of months out as long as I had a lot of whipped cream and ice cream (aww!!!)

I still try things all the time (2 years out from radiation)since my tastes and saliva are an ever changing thing. I have also found some days are better than others. And to watch what cold medicines I might think of taking. (talk about drying you out)

I'm sure other people will post what worked for them and any or all of it might work for you.

Good luck.
Dinah