My speech is pretty good, for the most part. When I am tired or have been talking more than usual, it gets worse. Nobody really has any trouble understanding me. Yes, oral cancer is more common than people realize. After I was diganosed i found two people just in my community that either had or have it. The woman that manages our coffee shop had it over ten years ago, on her tongue and had no chemo or radiation, and she does great, and looks fantastic. They really moved fast with me, too. I really didn't have time to think about it or have time to cry or get depressed...that came when I was finishing up my treatments. I didn't find this site until I had finished my treatments and was back to work, but I wish that I had known about it when I was going through all of it. You are lucky in that you have discovered it this early in the game.