There are lots of text to speech apps available. I used "Speak It!" on my iPhone while in the hospital and it worked well for me. You can store phrases to avoid retyping common statements all the time.

At home I am using a Fisher-Price magnet drawing board to save on paper. It is less messy than a whiteboard and you don't have to worry about the markers running dry.

Best of luck to you on your surgery!

Roger

Male, non-smoker, very light drinker, age 56 at diag.
9/18/12 - Diag. tongue cancer, left lateral border HPV 16+
9/24/12 - Partial glossectomy w/recon. Left side neck nodes removed
11/7/12 - Begin rads (30 treat.) and Cituximab (11 treat.)
12/26/12 - Rads compl.
1/18/13 - Cituximab compl.
3/13/13 - PET clear
12/19/13 - Positive PET
1/3/14 - Biopsy confirm cancer in tongue and 1 node (stage 4)
1/16/14 - Surgery - full glossectomy and and right neck dissect