Lorraine, I agee with all that has been said above by Donna and Ilene. I went to a plastic surgeon about six months after my initial neck dissection. I was having a terrible time with mobility, particularly when driving. We tried this tape thing, even forgot the name now and it didn't work. Next he shot steriods directly into my scars. The worst scar he did twice and the other one under my chin once. This helped breakdown the scar tissue and was wonderful improvement. By the way this was early 2001. I went to another plastic surgeon and was scheduled to go through plastic surgery November 2001. One day I got my head on straight, accepted the scars and cancelled the surgery. At the same time, I gave up the turtle necks and scrafs also. Of course I still wear them since I went hog wild buying them. I too thought my speech was different, but I went back to public speaking and presentations almost immediately. This was about 12 weeks after my surgery. I found the more I talked the more it came back. Today, almost everyone says I sound the same as before. I however in my head don't think so, but I don't let it stop me. I have trouble when I try to talk to fast or I get tired. So I just have to be aware of that. I did not have RAD, but I still had a very hard time eating, as they took part of my tongue, the bottom of my mouth, part of my jaw bone and four of my teeth on the same side. They rebuilt the bottom of my mouth with skin taken from the radical neck disection site. Now my tongue is sewn down to the bottom of my mouth. Sorry for the tangent, but anyway eating normally came back slowly. Today, I can eat most anything, but when Im out with clients or out for dinner, I'm very selective about what I eat. Like knife and fork food. See my tongue being sewn down doesn't have a whole lot of mobility. Anyway, hope this wasn't overload. Take care Anne.