Hi,I had the free flap your talking about 5 years ago.I did not have radiation because they had to rebuilt jaw and all. They were in so often they just kept checking for cancer then.THAT SURGERY MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO MY TALKING AND EATING.I am so glad i had it.My mouth did feel like it was full of marshmallows for quite awhile, but it all settled down with time.My plastic surgeon said it was easier to work with tissue that had not had radiation.The scar on my arm is odd, but I needed a mouth more than I needed to worry about the scar. Good luck to you.Ps I thought the recovery from this was rather quick compared to other surgerys I had had.