Mary - My son also had a lot of difficulty speaking because his mouth was so sore. He spoke in whispers and would get so frustrated with me when I didn't quite understand what what he was saying. I told him I had a hearing problem (not quite true) and he needed to be patient with me. We also developed a kind of sign language i.e. thumbs up or down for ok, shrug shoulders for "I don't know" and I would try to use questions or choices where he could hold up fingers for numbers or shake his head yes or now. Make sure you keep in touch with the Doctor and office staff re the soreness. They can recommend something to help if something stops working . My son used "Magic Mouthwash" which helped for a while and then he went to something similar that I got from the pharmacist and later on, he went back to the Magic Mouthwash. Anything your Mom takes needs to be checked out with the doctor to make sure it's ok for her. You mentioned the doctor saying the radiation would keep burning for approx 3 more weeks and that's exactly what happened with my son - the third week was the start of much improvement. My son slept a lot, and that worried me until I found out that it was normal and most survivors really need the sleep to recover but you can't let them sleep past the time when they have to take their meds. Things will get better, Mary - so hang in there and keep checking in here.