Hi John - it sounds like you are making good progress. My son also had a slight problem with his speech and he sounded like he was talking with a lisp but it was only a very short time before his speech returned to the way it was before. We went out to eat to places where he liked and could tolerate certain foods. Getting out to do even the simplest things is uplifting and good for you and your Mom, too!. I found that I really enjoyed just seeing my son eat and smile a little. Like you, he did get very tired and slept a LOT, so getting lots of rest is important. Don't worry about the scar. It gets very faint in time and hardly noticeable at all. About the abbreviations, if you go to the top of this page and click where it says "Forum" you will see a list of threads to the right. Just hit the "Abbreviations" and this will get you to a bunch of stuff on them. I also have a web page I made from most of the abbreviations found here and have put them in alphabetical order. If you want to check this out, just go to:

http://web.utk.edu/~aalix/abbreviations.html

Whenever you get ready to do your own signature line, here's what you do:
1) Go to top of this page, click on "My Stuff" and then "Profile"
2) Scroll all the way to the bottom where you see the Signature Box
3) Type in whatever you like
4) Click on Preview to check and see if you want to make changes
5) Hit Submit and "Voil�" That's it!!