So when I was in the hospital this summer, I got scanned multiple times in multiple ways.

The focus of all this was an infection growing in my brain. Not surprisingly, that was the No. 1 priority.

But, as several medical types told me, if they scan someone as much as they scanned me, they're apt to find something they can't explain. And they did. A spot showed up in my back, near my spine.

But since there was this brain thing to address, finding out about that was put on a back burner.

Eventually though, it came time to find out about this thing in my back.

I got an MRI.

Then I went in and had some material extracted from the aforementioned spot.

Later, I went in to hear the results of the biopsy. But the picture still was not clear.

I was told that what I had was a benign tumor. It needs to come out, one doctor said.

The biopsy results would be sent to a thoracic surgeon.

But scheduling an appointment with him took forever, in part because my biopsy sample was proving to be a puzzle. Labs in other parts of the country got involved.

It was making the local experts shake their heads. One doctor said I might need to go to Seattle or Portland to have the tumor removed. It was that unusual.

But since it had been declared benign, I was not losing sleep over it.

Then today, a doctor called and spoke with my wife. He had heard from a lab. It's not cancer, he said.

We never thought it was, she said.

Apparently, though they hadn't shared this with us, others had not been so sure.

So now we're back to trying to figure out what to do about the tumor.

A new possibility has emerged: Do nothing.

Previously, the thinking had been that the tumor might grow and mess up some nerves.

My takeaway?

Even the best, most dedicated medical people aren't always sure just what in the hell is going on.

I'm OK with that. You can't come up with the answer until you know what you're dealing with.

Medicine isn't magic.

People still ask me how I'm doing, after this summer.

I always say I am fine. I'm going to stick with that until I hear otherwise.

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