Unfortunately what you are noticing we refer to around here as "chemo brain". As with anything, this too will improve. It just takes time. Lots of time! Recovery can be a very challenging phase! None of us ever can get well as quickly as we think we should. The first 2-3 weeks can be especially difficult. Most struggle the most during the first 2-3 weeks after finishing rads. Your husbands intake is critical to helping him get thru the first few weeks of recovery. If he is a bit "foggy" thats perfectly normal as is insomnia, extreme fatigue, and mouth sores. Right at the end of rads is when most will temporarily lose their voice, have the worst of their pain, and struggle with staying hydrated. Make sure your husbands doc gives him a prescription to continue getting extra hydration on an "as needed" basis. Those extra fluids have helped him tremendously! Im sure that has been what has lessened your husbands side effects and allowed him to get thru rads a little easier than most other OC patients/survivors.

If your husband is "not quite there" at times and taking pain meds, he may not be up to driving himself to appointments for the next several weeks. From what you described, his reaction time must be dramatically slower than when this whole ordeal began. Getting behind the wheel is too risky for not only your husband but anyone else on the road. I had a 45 minute drive each way to my treatment facility. I could tell I wasnt myself and got my son to drive me around my 3rd week of rads. My drive was nowhere close to what your husbands is. I knew my limits and no matter how much I disliked depending on others it was necessary to have drivers.

With your husbands treatments almost over, make sure to get all contact info for the entire treatment team. If cell numbers and email addresses are options its a good idea to get them just i n case. Make sure you get all prescriptions w/ refills (if available) and have a long talk with your husbands nurse to make certain you have everything you need. Ask about emergency 24/7 calling and what the medical team would say should be called in vs a trip to the ER. As treatments end and the recovery phase begins, most patients and caregivers feel a sense of abandonment from the medical team the had been accustomed to see every day. Make certain the nurse goes over what is normal and what isnt. Most of us dealt with thick ropey gunk-like phlegm that was very difficult to completely remove from the mouth/throat. Ask the nurse about getting a prescription for a portable suction machine which does an amazing ob at conquering the phlegm. Drinking extra water, rinsing with seltzer water and a water pik on its lowest setting also helps with the gunk. Dont be surprised to see more new side effects like the ropey thick gunk, even though rads is finished. Radiation treatments get progressively more difficult as time goes by with the ver worst of it right after finishing rads. Most patients are feeling their absolute worst around 7-12 days post rads. Its only a few more weeks until your husband starts to feel a little more like his old self.

Hang in there and keep making some time just for you too.