Thank-you so much Christine for your kind and informative reply. His last surgery was on 5-10-12 so it was fairly recent. They reccommended speech therapy to retrain the muscles. He is working on regaining his strength and general adaptability. Your story is so inspirational Christine and you have given me a glimmer of hope to pass on to my dad. He is a bit reluctant to join a support group but this is such a supportive group that I know he will be welcomed. I will continue to encourage him and share similair stories of recovery I learn from people on this site. I love it here!