He knows he brought it on himself. He knows he should have listened to his wife, his daughter, our father, and even me. He told me today that he knows he was "stupid" to continue smoking all these years. This week he couldn't breathe and had to be taken to the hospital from work. They did x-rays and tests. The doctor asked him if he had a living will. He's been diagnosed with emphysema. I knew he probably had it last January when I watched him struggle to get his breath as we talked at our father's funeral. I'd talked to him earlier this week and asked him if he'd ever seen a doctor about his persistent cough. While he was at the hospital they found a nodule in his lung. That will have to be followed up on to see if it is malignant.
I need you to pray for him as he goes through an extremely difficult time. It's hard for him to even walk a few feet to the kitchen. It's hard for him take a few minutes to stand and heat up a can of ravioli. It's hard for him to even talk to me. He said, he has to go forward with whatever he's got to do with this situation. He knows God will help him. He didn't call me to whine; he wasn't seeking sympathy. He just wanted me to know. After all, since daddy died last January, he and I are all that is left of our immediate family now.
Some folks may think that he is getting what he deserves. He should have known better. I know I'd like to wring his neck right now. But what good does it do for me to be upset with him? Like my brother says, "It is what it is." It's not pretty. We know his struggle today will only get harder. This makes me sad. Very sad. And I know those of you who know me care that I am sad. And I know that because my brother is facing troubled days ahead, that you will love him as your brother, too. I know I can depend on you to pray for him.
I wish he didn't live nearly 1,700 miles from me. I wish I could drop in and bring him some of my chicken soup. But I can't. All I can do is pray for as much comfort as God will grant in the coming days. All I can do is ask that you pray for him and that the nodule on his lung is not what we suspect it is. selahV
