You might have wondered what has happened to the magnets now that the esophagus is open. Well, things took a bit of an unexpected turn -- in a pleasant way. When the magnets were inserted they were attached to some string which was tied to his PEG outside his body. I suppose that would allow the doctor to have some control over the magnets. One day, two weeks after the magnets were put in, John discovered that the string was gone! An X-ray showed no sign of the magnets! John had actually passed the magnets out. So there was no need to bring him I n, put him under, just to get the magnets out. Talk about a minimally invasive procedure!