Glow-in-the-dark editor

I had a CT scan this morning to see if that soft-tissue gelatinous mass adjoined to the outside of my esophagus has grown in the past month.

The scan was requested by Dr. Joseph Boyer, the chief of thoracic surgery at Florida Hospital. He is trying to determine whether to remoce the mass from my body and if so, whether to remove it endoscopically or surgically.

His colleagues discussed my case last week after receiving results of the biopsy taken before Christmastime, which determined cancer was not the issue because it came back negative.

So Dr. Boyer will first determine whether there was growth and if so whether it warrants removal, then determine how.

When we spoke last week, he told me he was somewhat perplexed, saying he'd never come across such a case before. He seemed to think I probably would end up in surgery but had to exhaust all possibilities first because of the dangers involved.

The would-be surgical site in my body is adjacent to the spot where two years and two weeks ago Dr. Boyer dissected my stomach, removed most of my esophagus and then took all the remaining parts and made a pull-through esophagus-stomach hybrid. So he doesn't want to damage the great job he'd already done. Plus, the area is close to the lungs and heart in my chest.

As Dr. Philip Styne told me, "there is a limited amount of space" there.

So I should find out in a couple of days what might be in store.

Happy New Year!