Friends,
It took a little while for the taste buds to come back. My problem was that, although the pain was gone, my swallowing function was so debilitated that I just could not swallow much. As the taste buds returned I could taste salty, like chicken soup and I used make chocolate milk shakes every day, which tasted great. Now I can taste most things and my swallowing function has gotten darn good...I love steaks, pizza, seafood, etc. and even eat popcorn, ( anything that is not spicy ) but things like sodas and Gatorade, which I used to love, don't taste sweet anymore. Cokes and Dr. Pepper taste syrupy so I just stick to water.

Good luck,
Danny G.