Father struggling to get off trach s/p tongue cancer surgery

My father had tongue cancer surgery on October 3, spent a few days in ICU and then transitioned to regular unit at hospital. He has been struggling to get trach out, has increased secretions, and scared to go home after a episode with trach change a week ago where he thought he was dying. While awaiting bed at a rehab (mildly short of breath otherwise functioning well) he is informed needs radiation due to 2 of 29 lymph nodes show traces of cancer. He's very discouraged. Has anyone had a difficult time getting trach out (timeline, etc...) and thoughts on the radiation effects? It seems they were initially told it would be a lot of speech therapy and eating therapy but he would be home in a week. Thank you.