The other thing I didn't know at the beginning was that during much of the chemo and radiation, I had no interest in swallowing food even though the first 3 chemo treatments did shrink the tunor so I could swallow some whole foods (when I was first diagnosed, I could only sip water). I recreived a feeding tube along with port and ended up taking about 6 feeding tube Isosource meals every day for several months during treatment. I have since had feeding tube removed and can hardly wait for endoscopy and PET scan in a few weeks to see if I'm cancer free now. Have you gotten a feeding tube to perhaps give your throat a break if its inflamed?