I had tongue cancer and surgery, radiation and chemo ending in Feb. '24. I kept my tube until I was comfortable with my food intake and pain free. I found that my post surgical pain kind of came and went a few times for various reasons. Same with saliva. Some days its good, others no so. So I kept my tube until I was comfortable. I was in no rush. I also used it for hydration. If I was constipated or my urine appeared strong I would add more water through the tube. Other than pain I found my tongue and throat sometimes felt swollen for whatever reason making swallowing a challenge and caused choking. On those days the tube was a God send. My advice is don't be in a hurry to get rid of it unless its uncomfortable or hard to manage. Let your body heal at its own pace and use your tube to keep your nutrition up so the healing stays on track.

To improve my saliva I used Xylimelts. They are a mint that stick to your gum as you sleep. I got mine from Amazon but Wal-Mart also has them. They really work. Kept my mouth moist so I could sleep thru the night.