Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) P16+

Sounds very similar to my experience. I agree with you wholeheartedly about keeping active during your treatments. I was able to get into the gym nearly every day, albeit my workouts were a bit toned down. I believe keeping up with working out made a significant difference in my recovery.

Hi @brad78 I posted a discussion about side effects of radiation a while back. here is the link: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/radiation-side-effects-when-will-they-ever-end/
Typically during and after radiation one can only tolerate a few foods, primarily soft or liquids for a while. I had broth, soft eggs, custard, porridge (oatmeal), cream of wheat, Ensure, and similar foods. Nutrition consisted of whatever could be tolerated. Regaining protein and calories was the primary goal.
You will find foods you can tolerate, perhaps foods you never cared for suddenly become favorites. Your taste will likely change. Swallowing may become a challenge. In fact it still is for me as I am often the last one at the table to finish. It's a "new" normal we all get to.
Don't fret about these changes. Don't be surprised about them either.
You may have an easy time of it, or perhaps not. We all are individual when it comes to this.
But to summarize, Eat what you can, when you can. Don't worry about a balanced diet. There will be time for that later. And keep active even if it's just a slow walk around the house.
I know this all sucks. Feel free to contact me anytime. I usually check this site at least once per day. I wish I could walk you through this, I really do. But you will be okay in the end and perhaps better. There is a saying something like "Scars have better stories than tattoos".
Courage.

@hrhwilliam was wondering about your journey and if after all treatments you followed a specific diet. Or did your eating pretty much go back to what you ate before? Reason I ask is because I'm attempting to completely overhaul how I eat and really working to get in shape. Doctors don't seem to say much about the nutritional aspects of this stuff. And I don't really know if it makes a lot of difference but it does seem to give one a sense of control in what is an uncontrollable situation.

I have had 35 radiation and 7 chemo and totally agree with the feeding tube it really help me and I had 60 hyperbaric treatments and would definitely suggest for you to look into it is the best and saved my voice box and repaired most of the radiation damage I cannot say enough about this .Please look into it .

Yes, I recommend the feeding tube. Good nutrition really help my quick healing.

So I'm three weeks out from surgery. Physically feel great. Eating what I want and exercising. Had first post-op CT and it was all clear. I know still early but any good news is good news. Will have PET/CT at 12 weeks plus exams from ENT every 2 months. Oncology thinks less than 10% chance it comes back so im going with that. Hopeful....

Agree on the radiation treatment being the worse to recover from. Radiation being accumulative, is the worse once you get to the last 2-3 weeks of it. Might wanna get the feeding tube to help with keeping your amt. of weight loss down and nutrition up. It’s a journey for sure but you can do it for better days ahead.

How are you doing?

Agreed 100%. Radiation is a very slow climb back to somewhat normal. And yes it does put your life into perspective. Well said!

I am astonished you can eat well but that is great! I could barely swallow a pill for the first 10 days. If they are not recommending radiation that means your staging was low from the pathology report and that is fantastic news. I got outside as much as possible and walked just to Breathe the air and look at clouds as strange as that seems. I would ask your Doctor about the NavDX blood test to monitor reoccurrence. It is not standard protocol yet but I think it will be in the future. I have read it is about 95% accurate. I assume you will have throat scopes/Ct Scan every 3 months for a few years and you can have the blood test done then.
Recovery.... As William said " The recovery from surgery is sooooo much easier than the recovery from radiation, which in most cases one never fully recovers. And it takes months to years before that settles out." That is 100% accurate. I recovered about 90% from the surgery within 30-45 days. However, The radiation really is 5 steps forward and 4 steps back from here on out. I don't expect to ever be 100% but Ill take 90% all day long. It sounds like without radiation you will have a much better outcome than most of us as far as the healing process. Hang in there a few weeks and I think you will be well on the road to recovery. Faith helped me and still does.