On top of having a stroke ...

 Part of my 3rd surgery involved having to sever the lower cranial nerves on the right, since the tumour had all but strangled them anyway. Thus, I fully expected to lose my hearing on the right (all but deaf on that side anyway, thanks to the tumour and past radiotherapy) and my ability to talk and swallow.

As expected, I lost my hearing on the right (ear phones last twice as long when you only need to use one!). An odd side effect - which took me a while to work out - is that sound appears to come from the opposite direction to where it really comes from. It is better now, but I still occasionally hear things from the wrong direction.

I was pleasantly surprised to still be able to talk, though my voice is now very basic. Most of the intonation has gone. I used to have a cultured and musical voice. I have learned through therapy to talk more slowly and to use my diaphragm in order to avoid running out of breath and wheezing during speech. Even so, I can manage only a few syllables at a time and my speech is very quiet.

My husband is very resourceful and has given me an electronic doorbell to call him with. I can carry the doorbell gadget around with me.

My speech is complicated by three things - the severing of the nerve to the right side of my tongue (I like to think I have a charming lisp), my right-sided facial paralysis (which should be improved by light surgery at the East Grinstead Facial Palsy clinic) - leading me to speak only from the left side of my mouth, and trismus or lockjaw of unknown origin, but probably happening as a result of my surgery. For the last year, despite my use of a jaw-stretching apparatus (Therabite), I have been unable to open my mouth more than a couple of centmetres at most. Sometimes less.

I discovered that I have an oddly twisted larynx. It probably developed that way when my right vocal cord first became paralysed in 2016. It may be why I can still talk at all - so I am not complaining!

Other challenges result from my inability to swallow - the subject of another entry.