[jims69camaro]

my sister was number 1, she died in october from cancer that was in between her heart and lungs - no way to operate and the only choice was chemotherapy, which she declined.

number 2 is my father-in-law. same place, same type of situation. they say he could live a year without problems if he does nothing. he'd need pain meds, most likely a morphine drip or something of that nature. he's going to be released from the hospital tomorrow, and that's when some hard decisions are going to have to be made. they can't operate on it because of where it is, just like my sister. so he could go through chemo, but there is no guarantee that he'll survive the chemo. see, chemo not only destroys the cancer cells, but also your white blood cells, so he could catch a simple cold and croak from that.

so he's going to have to decide how he wants to live his remaining days. i'm thinking that he'll want to go back to costa rica, the country of his birth. i don't know how my mother-in-law will handle any of this. she plays 'em pretty close to her chest, if you know what i mean. so, he could possibly live another year, but he will die from this cancer, as my sister did. i'm just wondering where #3 is going to strike, since bad things always happen in threes, and that his cancer is in the same place and same type of cancer that killed my sister. btw, he's 77 years old, so he's lived a full life, not robbed of it like my sis (44 y.o. when she died).

i cried. that's over. i know he will move on to a better place, free from pain, so i have that to look forward to. but he will leave his wife who is one year younger than he is, and i have no idea how that is gong to play out. i mean, she could decide to go back to costa rica with him and never return to this country, or she could come back after he dies. i guess not knowing when is the worst part. i normally don't write threads like this, but you guys are my comrades and friends, and i just wanted to let you know a little bit of what's happening in my life, just in case i seem a little flaky in the coming weeks and months.