Learn how to swallow as soon as you can. The taste will resolve itself, but trust me: not being able to swallow is something you need to fix asap. I swallowed all through my first year of rad and Tx and it was not until this year's surgery that I lost that ability. they tell me that maybe by Christmas I can swallow if the next round of therapy is successful. Even if taste does not come back, the smell of foods can compensate a lot. And as David notes, taste recovery is a journey with some detours. So hang in there, it will get better. Even I could finally taste garlic and olives after almost a year of zero and I mean zero taste. then it all came cascading back until the recurrence. SWALLOWing is much more important than taste in the scheme of recovery.