Jim,

When I called my BF Bob Fox, older than dirt, he wasn't quite your age so I would have to call you....older than the Big Bang?? Don't know, just thinking out loud.

David, Anne-Marie,
there is (at least) in my case a distinct difference in sensitivity on the operated vs the "native" portion of my tongue. Both portions received similar radiation dosages but the allograft side (aka franken-tongue) is a lot more sensitive to irritants (still).
The water color comparison is perfect, plus the the taste seems to fade (my case) a after a few seconds. Still, it is a lot better than it was just a few months ago.

M

My son also mentioned the taste fading after a few seconds - don't know if it still does - but I remember at the time telling him he should eat fast before it starts to fade! He also mentioned that certain tastes seemed to come from certain parts of the tongue. It made me start trying to analyze where a particular taste was coming from!

I don't believe your tongue has different taste areas but all taste buds send a signal to the brain telling it what it just tasted, i.e. sweet, salty, sour, etc. I think there are 4 distinct tastes that the buds can distinguish from unless they have found more since I was in college. I was pre med until I switched to accting so I didn't have to stay and get a terminal degree. If I'm wrong, blame it on my chemo brain.

I also had the taste go away quickly, like after 1 or 2 bites and that lasted until just about a month ago when I noticed a slight improvement in overall taste, saliva and the resulting joy of eating.

Anne-Marie, for me eating quickly didn't make a difference. It was as if once the tongue sensed the taste, the nerves were overloaded and stopped sending the signal anymore or the brain was not up to receiving the signals since they hadn't been used for a while and had to rebuild their pathways ?? Drinking seemed to help clear or reset the tongue or nerves for another signal. Now I taste much longer into the meal without having to drink and I am able to eat more bites without having to drink as well. That is my slight improvement and it does make an enjoyable difference. For instance I can now eat a roll, a half of sandwich, 2 pieces of pizza, a few cookies, a piece of fried chicken, a piece of chocolate cake to name a few, all without having to take a swallow of liquid and I taste and savor the food each bite and I haven't been able to do that since 2 weeks into my Tx. Now I am retrying many things I gave up on and I push it to see how long I can go without a swallow. As they say good things come in small packages.

A little more than one year out and taste changes daily, some for the better and some for the worse, but I'm eating and enjoying!! I would say that taste is about 50% and like Bill, things are totally different (Chocolate is yukky for me too, but I've had some (dark chocolate usually) that wasn't bad). The one thing that is weird is after a few bites all taste flattens out.
I had an appointment with my surgeon yesterday and told him that my taste had improved a lot in the past 6 weeks (Picking up flavors, etc.). He said that the radiation really changes the tissues in the throat, affecting vocal chords, swallowing, virtually everything, especially taste. He did say I have done remarkably well and with my progress (Age and prior healthy state) he could see me continuing to recover and improve/adapt (Adapting being a key word) into year two. He did say that is not always the case but he was optimistic about it. Made me feel positive about it as well!! It is strange to take three or four bites and really absorb some flavor, and then take bite 5 and it's like eating a piece of cardboard!! I joke with my kids all the time though when they say something tastes bad, I tell them it tastes terrific!! They laugh and say, "Dad, it all tastes good to you!!" They're Right!!
Got to laugh about it.... Keep experimenting!!
Steve

David has me jealous being able to eat and taste. Especially the pizza and chicken. I have been trying anything that i can mash into a pulp and swallow. Hard to find food soft enough right now with now teeth LOL. Made stew yesterday using butterball turkey sausage. Turned out pretty good and was easy to mash . Hope you all have a good day.

Pizza is no problem for me today - I was able to eat my first pizza around 2 months post Tx. Chicken is trickier since most places overcook it. It either has to be moist or with lots of sauce. Meat I order "charded rare" so it's nice and juicy.

White meat from chicken and turkey are the dryest, dark meat is erasier. Try mayo with pureed cold chicken. Also avocado is a great way to moisten foods. It is particularly good mashed into tuna.

I am 4 years past my first surgery and 3 months post 2nd partial glossectomy and I am pleased to say that while some tastes have changed (after my first surgery I lost my love of tomato soup - however got it back after the 2nd surgery - go figure!), my taste is probably about 60% of original and that is only with about 1/8th of my original tongue left. It will get better, but as was previously posted it is one of those things you note on reflection and cannot sit around waiting for.

Donna

At 6 months post TX, most things taste fine, except ice cream, strangely. I have recently regained tolerance for spicy foods, and seem to crave them now.