It is amazing the comments people make. After 11 months of speech therapy and home practice, I can talk on the phone although I still elicit "what? what?". Still most people keep telling me "Oh, you sound great but that is EXACTLY what they said 9 months ago. When I questioned this, the response is that I am better now and this time they really mean it. Turns out they did not want to discourage me, but I wasn't being fooled anyway since part of my therapy is taping myself and playing it back.
Long story, short moral: oral cancer doesn't make us stupid but people sure act like it does.
Charm