It is likely that it will never return to what it once was. As the saying goes...he will have a "new normal". Everyone recovers differently, based on their treatment plan and dose of radiation. I learned that saliva has two parts. The viscous part and the cirrus part. My rad doc said that the radiation usually destroys the cirrus (watery) producing salivary glands. That is why most of us oral cancer patients are only left with the viscous (thick) saliva, if we are lucky to have any at all. It takes a long time to adapt...just trying different things and ways of eating. For instance, I cannot swallow anything thicker than my saliva without drinking a liquid to wash it down. In fact, my doctor told me the truth. He said..."you will never be able to eat the way you used to eat". When he said that, I knew he was being honest. I am now three years post treatments and can eat most things, but not everything that I did before and not with the ease that I did before the cancer. Good luck to you and tell Gordon to hang in there because it DOES get better.