Have you tried Water at different temperatures? Some people have an easier time with ice cold, room temp, warm or hot liquids.
I was pretty swollen right after surgery and had trouble drinking anything, but sucking on ice chips and small sips of ice cold water worked for me.
Pre-op I preferred beverages to be room temp, but since the surgery it's a lot easier to drink beverages over lots of ice.
I also found that hot tea and hot broth went down much easier than anything room temp.
For Protein, most of the beverages made me gag too, but I had luck with sugar-free protein Jello. You mix the jello powder with hot water (according to the package instructions), and then dissolve your Protein Powder in the cold water before mixing the hot and cold together. Let it set in the fridge, and then it's just like eating jello
