nlovejoy here's my experience for what it's worth... First off I applaud your husband for not being afraid of the feeding tube. So many are for some reason but my team practically insisted I have it and I'm grateful that they did. I had it placed before starting treatment of 35 radiation and 6 chemo sessions and it allowed me to maintain my nutrional needs throughout. When treatments ended late June '24 I still could not swallow anything not even water so I continued to rely solely on the feeding tube. I finally had it removed in October and now have nothing but a very small scar to show for it. My advice is to make sure he can swallow well enough to replace the feeding tube calories with regular food calories before having it removed but it sounds like he's already doing better than I was at that stage so it may be sooner than later. In terms of recovery, I recall after treatments ended that I was frustrated with the pace of recovery. Terrible throat pain, always tired and very bad mucous/thrush were my main issues that seemed to persist. But just as my team had said it simply takes time and one day magically I turned the corner. Presently, 9 months post treatment I can eat pretty much anything but need liquid to wash it down. Hang in there it does get better and there is quality of life after this very challenging ordeal. All the best!