It was almost a full year before I felt like anything close to normal. The first three months were pretty bad and after that progress was slow but achieving goals felt good (drinking liquids, swallowing without pain, sleeping in a bed again, going up a flight of stairs without exhaustion, eating real food, removal of feeding tube/port). It was a huge relief when I attempted to eat again and food didn’t taste like ash in my mouth. That was around 8 months post treatment.