http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/biosi/staffinfo/jacob/teaching/sensory/taste.html

taste is mainly through smell and altough there are tons of tastebuds on the tongue there are 2500 taste buds on the epiglottis, soft palate, laryngeal and oral pharynx.

This is intersting for all of us who have had partial or full glossectomies. I always am stumpe for how to explain to people that although I will never be able to taste like I did before I still do taste a lot of my food.

KATE

Kate,

Interesting but...I didn't have any surgery. I never lost my sense of smell or my memory of taste during or post Tx.

I lost almost all taste (except some sweetness) from appx 3 weeks into Tx till 2 weeks post Tx.

My taste slowly returned and at 16 months to present I would guesstimate that I have 100% taste for the first 3 bites or so then it slacks off to say 90%. Drinking after a bite seems to reset my taste back to the 100% / 90% pattern.

I wish I could find someone to explain this because it is a common side effect among us that didn't have to have tongue surgery.

Kate, I sure can smell food, any of it including my favorites. If I can blend it I try it. The 1st 1 or 2 bites have flavor then iy all tastes the same. Like bird droppings on cardboard. And no David I have never tasted that. LOL Just imagining

Hey David,

Now I am not a doctor and I don�t want to present my opinion as factual ever, I have learned a lot of things from this community, and I would like to pass the research and assumptions I have along on this subject. Remember that I am obsessed with spit?

Xerostomics, or people with low or no saliva production will have many problems. �Normals� produce 2 � 5 ml of saliva per minute while eating. I would think that I am only producing 30 ml a day at this point without drugs. The chemical reactions of saliva starting the digestion process are reduced or missing.

We lack the ability to dissolve starches and other foods as well as suffer reduced mucosa in the mouth, and we tend to have a mouth PH that is more acid. So we also are subject to easy damage to our taste buds. I notice that if I dry out at night all bets are off for a few days as far as food is concerned.

I have the same problem with food taste changing after a bite or three and I have to blame that on �running out of spit�. The primary reason that I am working so hard to make the best recovery possible in saliva production is that I WAS famous for my cooking locally. Mostly �Cookie� stuff over slow fires, breads and meats that challenged any 5 star establishments.

While I can still do the basics, I can�t taste what I am doing and no longer able to throw stuff together at random. That is very limiting in the wilderness. This being a part of my life I really do want back, I have not accepted the normal answers and have started the �quest for spit�.

My Radiation Oncologist is very understanding as well as liberal and agrees with my attempts to exercise the one sputtering gland that I have. The improvements are fabulous; however I think I can forget normal breads.

As I tinker I have come up with an edible honey corn bread using the normal mix, extra honey and a bit more milk. Cover the pan and cooking it without browning, leave the aluminum foil on and let it steam till it cools. This softens the corn meal, leaves it moister so you don�t need as much saliva to start breaking some of the starches down and enjoy the flavor. It takes the �normals� a bite or two to decide that it�s ok since it is white and does not have the grainy texture they expect.

Hydrate, like for a hot date! Nothing will stop a meal as fast for me as dry glands and you may want to discuss the �eye drops� idea with your doctor. It does work for me as a jump starter before a meal when needed; however that is a delivery method that should not be taken lightly for that drug.

Eat, Drink, be merry and dance on the tables!

UncleVern

Keep in mind also that the enzymes in real spit also help protect against tooth decay -- That's why we Xerostomics need to use the fluoride trays with the special pastes for protection and also why the Biotene products cost more (they come with appropriate enzymes).

Yeah the Biotene products are wonderful!

Within a week of getting my hands on some my mouth was healing and my teeth quit hurting.

To promote calcification and reduce acid damage I am putting a few drops of soda solution in after brushing. Rinsing with ACT children's mouthwash, as it has a higher content of floride. Putting Biotene liquid and a bit of Gel in for the night.

My Oncologist switched application the order around asking that I put the ACT in after the PH shift.

Unsure just how long I am employed, I am pushing the dentist to complete the work. After that is done we will have a good before and after assessment for as long as the INS is there for me.

It would be nice to say that tooth decay can be controlled in us "desert mouth" types. Since the dentist is seeing me once a week these days, I will ask him about the trays, sounds like a good idea.


UncleVern

UncleVern, thanks for that explanation. I thought I was alone insaying "I can taste the sweetness in the first few sips or bites and then nothing."

I still go NOWHERE without my water. I can't remember what normal eating is like. *sigh*

Good facts Kate. I too have had trouble explaining to people that I can taste some of my foods. Some things do lose their taste after a few bites and things can be different from day to day also. I have started to spend more time smelling the foods prior to eating and it does seem to help.

Of course right now I am not taking in a lot of foods with the constricting swallow. I look forward to being able to move forward and try some of the recipes that I have now for foods that do not have to be chewed. I am going to try to make it fun to experiment, although I would feel a lot more comfortable if someone was here. I may have to start seeing if a friend will stay on IM with me while I am here trying foods just in case. LOL

Patty

Too bad you are so far away Patty, we could experiment together. I bet with a partner assisting, you could make a fun day everyday.