Hey Kate
I can kind of relate to some of the apprehension and vulnerability, but our circumstances are quite different. I'll tell my story anyway, cause i think it is a bit of a good news story and thats always good to hear.

I had a partial (not quite half) glossectomy which meant that at this stage (few months post surgery) my speech is a bit sloppy (though much better than i and doctors expected).

Some of my job involves presenting material and training clients and i was wondering how long it would be before i would be confident to get up in front of people and deliver a session.

About three weeks ago, my major project at the moment was at a stage where we had to deliver a bunch of training sessions after hours. The colleague who has helped out on this project while i was MIA immediately said "i'll do half and you do half"...

At first i was a little pi$$ed that he assumed i was up to doing the training and had a few negative thoughts about how inconsiderate it was, but then i changed my mind and thought, well if he thinks i can do it, i cant be talking too badly!

So i did my share.

I sat in the training room after the first session (i had a half hour break between sessions) and amidst feeling relieved i shed a couple of tears. Not unhappy ones, more stunned/stoked/happy/amazed/grateful kind of tears. i couldnt believe that a few months ago i was talking to a doctor about removing half my tongue, and here i was using what was left of it (and a bit of my arm) to succesfully deliver a half-hour training session to a paying client!

a supportive employer has helped the whole process....in Oz we get 2 weeks sick leave annually - my boss has paid me just over 6 weeks sick leave to date with no strings attached.

So i'm pretty lucky...

ps - Eric, your story is awesome.
pps - my next milestone is my first singing gig post op. will let you know how that one goes!