Welcome, Gordon. You have come to a great place for answers. I will address some of your questions, being a year out from the surgery, and 9 months from the end of rad/chemo. Here goes:
1. Your taste buds have been fried and will come back gradually. For a long time all I could taste was salt, and when sweet came back, it was just good for a bite or two at first. Strange, but your taste will eventually return.
3. I had a feeding tube for many months and it did not hurt at all. I think you need to discuss this with your doc right away, as the pain might be from an infection. This is just one of many possibilities, so you really should call this to your doctor's attention.

Keep checking back, as I am sure people more knowledgeable than I will be able to provide more information. Hang in there, Gordon. If you are like most of us, you figured as soon as the treatment finished, you would feel better. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way, and is usually a slow process. Pretty soon you will come to a point where you can see a little progress every day as you gain strength and your body heals from the assault of radiation.

Joanna