How long before my taste buds recover after H&N treatments?

I had tonsilar cancer which affected the lymph nodes in the right side of my neck, both of which they removed. I only had radiation. I had a feeding tube through my nose for only about 2 weeks, but it took quite a few months to eat semi-normally. At first I had to puree my food. I ate a lot of mashed potatoes! Forget chicken. It is so stringy and dry regardless of how cooked. But an immersion blender works well. Slowly the numbness and a lot of the dryness went away. For me, I started getting my taste back after about 3-4 months. It took me awhile to be able eat hard things. The same with spicy foods, or different beverages, carbonated, a glass of wine, etc. This all took time, but eventually I was able to enjoy them again . But everyone is different. I'm 3 years post-op now and everything looks good. I was advised to make all my food somewhat wet to counter dryness or difficulty swallowing. I love gravy, so that was good news for me. Things like bread and pretzels can be difficult even now, so I have to go slow and even now they sometimes things get stuck, and I have to cough to loosen them. If you have had a feeding troop for quite a while , tou will most likely have to get your throat swallowing muscles working again. They will help you with that. Drink lots of fluids when you eat. They will also have exercises that you can do for your mouth or your swallowing. I have something called a tongueometer, or something that helps you stretch your mouth. Your swallowing PT can help you with all those things. I remember when I used to eat pizza that I always finished before my friend. A couple of months after radiation, she had finished her whole pizza, and I had just finished one small slice! But I'm back to keeping up with her now. I eat slower than I used to, but that's probably a good thing, and I probably chew things much better than I used to also.

As far as the man who shared about his son: The biggest and longest lasting problem for me, was my lack of energy! I've heard that it helps people to exercise even a little bit. That was the longest thing that it took me. I too am single. And looking back, it would have been wonderful and so helpful for me if someone had asked if they could come over and clean my house. Without that, things do pile up, and after a while they get to be a bit unmanageable!

Also, personal interaction is very important! During my surgery, recovery, and radiation, people remarked about what a great attitude I had. Instead of looking at the circumstances that I had no control over, I continually focused on my heavenly Father and His love and faithfulness to me! But the month after I finished radiation, was my hardest. I got depressed, and started worrying about how "I" was going to take care of myself! In about a month later, I went for an appointment, and on my way out at the appointment dusk, I realized I was like a " chatty Kathy"! It was only then that I realized that during my radiation I had seen And interacted with people on a daily basis. But after that, I didn't interact with anyone! No wonder I got depressed! So interaction, in my opinion, is extremely important to our healing!

I mentioned that to my radiologist, and they had a social worker who told me about a cancer support group that met near where I live. They meet both in person and virtually. You get to know people. You get to share your encouragements, but also your lows! It helps not to focus just on yourself. But it also helps to realize you're not alone! They also have these groups for the families and caretakers of cancer survivors. BUT, I had to find out about all of this stuff little by little, like by asking for help or answers. For whatever reason, I don't think that the hospitals or doctors lay out all the many resources that are available to us. So I think it's important for us to share with them what we are experiencing or going through, so that they can then suggest a resource.

I'm sorry this was so long, but I hope this helps someone.

Spot on @crisatl as radiation is a gift that keeps on giving unfortunately.

I am 16ys out from my tonsil cancer (2008) where I had 35 rounds of radiation which amounted to 70 Gy and 3 rounds of the platinum-based chemo Cisplatin. I had other issues come up along the way. So be very aware of what is going on inside your mouth and throat. To name a few off the top of my head, it destroyed my thyroid giving me Hypothyroidism (makes you feel fatigued and most of the time you gain weight too) so now I have to take a pill for it for the rest of my life. Watch your bone structure and tooth decay in that region too- so make sure you go to your dentist every six months. Paralyzed one of my vocal cords so my voice is not as loud as it once was. And most recently likely was my cause of getting tongue cancer this year.

I also attached a couple articles around the long-term side effects for head & neck survivors.

Best Rob