Slow suicide

This weekend I traveled to visit my father-in-law in the hospital. He just had lung sugery to fix complications related to his emphysema. He's doing well--recovering very quickly after the surgery. Hopefully the surgery will keep his lungs from collapsing (as had happened three times in the past) and will improve his quality of life. Unfortunately, though, he will never be well again.....he'll always be on oxygen as his lungs continue to become less and less functional.

This frustrates me to no end because it was something he did to himself. My father-in-law has smoked since he was 10 years old--for 50 years of his life. And now he's paying for it. I feel certain he will not live to see my son's 10th birthday. Maybe not even his 5th birthday. He was diagnosed with emphysema five years ago--but he didn't quit smoking until this past Nov. And that has been a marvelous feat. I think his fear of lighting up with a tank of oxygen next to him had more to do with him quitting than anything else. But I don't care--as long as he can keep it up. He'll never be cured, but not smoking can definitely extend his life and make things a little better.

I don't get smoking. And I'm not trying to be preachy here--I don't have anything against smokers. Whatever floats your boat. I just don't have any grasp of how strong that addiction can be for some people. I don't really understand why people start smoking in the first place......especially knowing what we know now about how bad it is for you. I know peer pressure has a lot to do with it for some people. I never felt that. I was scared to death to smoke. The pictures of the black nasty lungs made an impression on me, I guess. Also, watching my two great-uncles die from smoking-related throat cancer was a good reality check, too. Oh yeah......and my aunt who died of lung cancer. But she wasn't the smoker--her husband was (and still is, as far as I know).

My father-in-law has lived through a lot. He ran away from home at 16, lied about his age and joined the Army and went to Vietnam. He served three tours of duty. He has four Purple Hearts for being wounded in combat. He survived being shot three times and being hit with a hand granade. A freaking hand granade. He survived all of that, but all the while, he's been killing himself slowly......with his damn cigarettes. And that makes me sad.