Wendys

The answer is "it depends". As you noted, some posters are eating very rapidly, others not. The best thing is to see a speech pathologist/therapist to get the basic exercises:
forceful swallow etc.and then a Modified Barium Swallow test.
Very very few people go as long as I have without being able to eat, but I had surgery on radiated tissue, then even more radiation afterwards. A lot depends on what part of your tongue the surgery involved. Mine was base of tongue which is very bad for relearning swallowing. I would have killed to be at the "can't eat very well" stage after only one month. I am still not there. Both the speech and the eating will get better within the year.
Charm