Ed Gallek was set to return to air as a reporter for Cleveland Fox affiliate WJW in late July. But his debut’s been delayed because, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, he’s having a small tumor removed from behind his ear on Wednesday.
“It should be three to four days in the hospital, then recovery is a matter of weeks, depending on a zillion factors,” Gallek said. “So I’m hoping to be on the air sometime in August.”
Gallek joined WJW from WOIO in January, but had to wait six months for his non-compete clause to run out before he could return to Cleveland’s airwaves.
The tumor, which will be removed by a neurosurgeon from the Cleveland Clinic’s brain tumor and neuro-oncology department, is a growth on the nerve that affects hearing and balance.
“I’m not in great distress here or anything like that,” Gallek said “They found what they believe to be a non-cancerous tumor behind my right ear. I was having some face pains and that led to a series of appointments and an MRI, and that’s how they found it.”
There was a personal as well as a professional reason for Gallek making the move to Channel 8. His wife, Peggy Gallek, has been working at Channel 8 since September 2012. She changed her last name from Sinkovich to Gallek when they were married in October.
“They’ve pretty much said 99.9 percent it’s not cancerous,” Peggy Gallek said. “They have no reason to believe that it is. So we don’t believe there will any complications, but you never know.”