Nelie,

I had the same kinds of pain and stinging from the latter stages of radiation and for several more weeks (I distinctly remember that I couldn't even drink water without first using the topical anesthetic "swish and spit" stuff that the nurses kept me supplied with). My diet at that point consisted of lots of baby food, applesauce, blender concoctions that were variations on the high-calorie shakes that you see elsewhere on this site (usually with fruit thrown in), overcooked pasta in creamy sauces, and melted ice cream.

With the swish and spit mixture that I had, I knew that I could get about 10-15 minutes of numbness on my tongue before it started to wear off, so my goal was simply to shovel in as many calories as I could get to slide down in that time.

I hope you'll start to see some lessening of the pain soon -- I think you're getting close to the stage where I was seeing improvement in the eating department.

Cathy


Tongue SCC (T2M0N0), poorly differentiated, diagnosed 3/89, partial glossectomy and neck dissection 4/89, radiation from early June to late August 1989