Mary,
He actually sounds kind of typical at this stage but as Marica and Gail said don't leave anything to chance, infections and thrush are very common as well as a lot of nausea and nastyness. Always keep the oncologist in the loop. Constipation can cause nausea issues as well. That should get better once he's weaned off of the narcotics. It was about at 8 weeks post Tx that I started to turn the corner where I could actually feel the slightest bit of improvement. In early post Tx, progress is measured in 3 week increments. I didn't have any swelling (I did have a pretty good dewlap or turkey wattle but that has since gone away) but I lost my voice for a time and had many other issues like fluid build up in the ears. The dry mouth and mucositus are a major part of it, and can cause thrush because of the altered pH in the mouth. This treatment can really beat the crap out of you, although some have fared better than others. The techs kept telling me I was doing really well. My wife thought I was going to die!

It takes 18 months for salivary function to return after IMRT radiation. I had lots of weird pains also, mainly from muscle atrophy from all of the fatigue.

Cancer fatigue, by the way, is the basis for SSDI claims as it is a well known side effect of the treatment.

It took almost 2 years to get back to where I was in strength and function.

It takes a lot of patience at this point.