Thank you, Gary. I think it will help John to know others have gone through this, and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. As for the order of his treatments. He had two endoscopies that came back negative for cancer. His gastroenterologist felt sure the tumor she saw was malignant. She consulted with other doctors who agreed with her observation, that what she saw was a malignant tumor, that was growing. They couldn't get a PET scan approved without a positive biopsy... John has Waldenstrom's syndrome which has been treated and he is free of symptoms, but he still has a cancer diagnosis. His Waldenstrom's oncologist, who had been kept in the by his esophageal cancer doctors, said "ah ha I can help... I have a cancer diagnosis for Waldenstrom's and I can get approval for a PET scan. Sure enough, the PET scan showed esophageal cancer, but by then the tumor had grown and John could barely swallow. It was likely to grow enough to reach the other side of the esophagus very soon. The surgeon we were seeing explained that... in this case,he and John's other doctors agreed that he ought to have the surgery first. If the got all the way to the wall it would be "bad". Whew! So things were done differently from the norm. He finished everything a couple months ago, had his follow up PET scan a week or so ago. He saw his oncologist Tuesday and got a "great report" ...no evidence of metastatic disease. We have an appointment with the radiation oncologist today. We will, hopefully, be through except for quarterly follow up CT scans. (Long story, huh?!) Thanks for"listening", Donna (and John)