Wendy

it's been 33 years since I left Pittsburgh but one year ago with 18 more radiations to go, my neck (front and back) , throat, upper shoulder and cheeks were bright red and raw. The doctors said they had never seen such an extreme reaction to Erbitux and radiation. Patients starting out but sitting in the waiting room actually asked me: "Will I look that bad?" None of the creams or salves worked. What did provide real relief was applying the Vigilon gel burn dressings. My wife had to get them from a medical supply store, but they were a godsend. We kept them in the refrigerator and they were so cool and soothing plus when you changed them, the oozing dead skin stuck to the gel but did not tear away at my skin causing bleeding like the gauze alone had done. That's when I had to up the pain meds to two fenatyl patches plus 10 oxycodene a day. Showers were impossible. Just because TX is over, don't let the doctors back off on pain management. It was no big deal to wean off the dope.
Now all that skin has healed perfectly: no mottling, no hardness and even a stubble of beard on the cheeks. (the neck is perfectly hairless so less shaving time). While everyone is different, if my extreme case could heal, your husband's should also. It didn't actually get worse after TX over, it just seemed like it since I thought there would be instant improvement once the burn and poison was done. Instead it stayed achingly the same for about two weeks, but then got better every day. Hang in there: you've crossed the finish line but just like the runners in a race don't all pile up and crash there, you have to keep moving to the rest area even though you are both tired. so the short answer to your question is : Not soon enough - but soon.