Hi Vanessa,
Welcome to NeuroTalk.

That's a really terrible thing to happen to you. The good thing is that you're obviously fit to begin with and as you say, you have the determination to get better as fast as possible.

I had a quick look using the search feature for any older posts. I didn't find anything relating to food drop and surgery specifically although there could be some that I missed. There are some posts I noticed on the Peripheral Neuropathy forum... obviously neuropathy related. You could also try asking there.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum20.html

You can use the forum search feature below to check yourself if you wish.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/search.php