Ebert on the mend, eager to get back to the movies

Hospitalized Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert hasreleased more information about his cancer treatment.

His surgery June 16 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to remove acancerous growth on his salivary gland was followed by emergencysurgery July 1 to repair a burst blood vessel.

The rupture was caused by a breakdown of tissue near the burstartery as a result of radiation treatments three years ago.

"I had a particularly intense form of radiation called neutronbeam radiation, which is more effective for certain cancers, butwhich is also more debilitating to healthy tissue than conventionalradiation," Ebert said.

Efforts to protect the arteries have kept him in the hospital, hesaid.

Ebert said he has started work to strengthen his vocal cords andhas been using a tracheostomy collar to keep his airways open duringsurgeries for the ruptured blood vessels.

"This is a unique situation, and the doctors are movingcautiously, but they are enthusiastically optimistic about myrecovery," he said.

Ebert thanked his fans for their good wishes and said: "I don'thave a crystal ball, so I can't tell you when, but I sure lookforward to being back on the movie beat."

Ebert is co-host of television's "Ebert & Roeper" with Sun-Timescolumnist Richard Roeper.