Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Closest Thing to Hell This Side of It
I'm on a mission--to get out the message that no cigarette, no job, no food is worth what you go through when you have cancer.
My husband had quit smoking. Within two weeks he was coughing, out of breath, and weak as a newborn baby. Within a month, on a Tuesday, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. By Friday of that same week, he was admitted to the hospital due to severe nausea and pain and swelling of his left leg. A blood clot was discovered immediately, but it took doctors almost a week to figure out what was causing the nausea--congestive heart failure. Had that not been discovered when it was, the cardio surgeon said my precious husband would have been dead within two hours.
Fluid had collected around his heart and part of it had collapsed. Fluid was around his lung and all through his body so that organs were contracted and could not do their jobs. The fluid was drained from around the heart and lungs. Twice fluid collected in the lung again, requiring it to be drained by a needle in his back. It was excruciatingly painful. For a man who has a very high tolerance to pain, it had to be an unimaginable pain. He said a smell came from it that made him almost unbearably nauseous.
The degree of oxygen my Babe required to stay alive was so much that only the surgery step-down unit at the hospital would take him. I couldn't believe the man in that hospital bed was my husband. Always so full of vitality and energy, he was too weak to get himself to the bathroom and could hardly feed himself. I remember his saying, "I didn't know it would be like this." I bit my tongue before I could shoot back, "What did you think it was going to be like?" Forty-two years of smoking had finally come to collect.
I wanted no negativity, however. Our family made sure that every word, every expression, every attitude was entirely positive and faith filled.
The internists gave him no chance of living. The oncologists offered a little hope. The pain and hearache we experienced, seeing our precious loved one so near death, so very, very sick and weak. Yes, our family and friends, who are like family, prayed earnestly and trusted our God for healing. I would to God that no family would ever have to go through what we did.
Has anyone stopped to think how selfish it is of one to smoke despite the pleas of loved ones to stop. We are not our own. Our lives, our choices impact others. It is totally selfish to hang onto something that causes those we love such heartache and pain, not to mention the financial stress and drain. Do not be fooled, my friend. Whether it's cancer, emphasema, coronary heart disease-not matter--no one escapes the consequences of long term smoking. It's a matter of what and when. Why would you want to put your family through that? Ask my Babe how it feels knowing, after the fact, what you've put your family through.
But, God is still heals! My Babe is walking around the house, doing dishes and laundry, and making plans to go back to work in the near future. He has no desire for a cigarette-doesn't give it a second thought.
My husband had quit smoking. Within two weeks he was coughing, out of breath, and weak as a newborn baby. Within a month, on a Tuesday, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. By Friday of that same week, he was admitted to the hospital due to severe nausea and pain and swelling of his left leg. A blood clot was discovered immediately, but it took doctors almost a week to figure out what was causing the nausea--congestive heart failure. Had that not been discovered when it was, the cardio surgeon said my precious husband would have been dead within two hours.
Fluid had collected around his heart and part of it had collapsed. Fluid was around his lung and all through his body so that organs were contracted and could not do their jobs. The fluid was drained from around the heart and lungs. Twice fluid collected in the lung again, requiring it to be drained by a needle in his back. It was excruciatingly painful. For a man who has a very high tolerance to pain, it had to be an unimaginable pain. He said a smell came from it that made him almost unbearably nauseous.
The degree of oxygen my Babe required to stay alive was so much that only the surgery step-down unit at the hospital would take him. I couldn't believe the man in that hospital bed was my husband. Always so full of vitality and energy, he was too weak to get himself to the bathroom and could hardly feed himself. I remember his saying, "I didn't know it would be like this." I bit my tongue before I could shoot back, "What did you think it was going to be like?" Forty-two years of smoking had finally come to collect.
I wanted no negativity, however. Our family made sure that every word, every expression, every attitude was entirely positive and faith filled.
The internists gave him no chance of living. The oncologists offered a little hope. The pain and hearache we experienced, seeing our precious loved one so near death, so very, very sick and weak. Yes, our family and friends, who are like family, prayed earnestly and trusted our God for healing. I would to God that no family would ever have to go through what we did.
Has anyone stopped to think how selfish it is of one to smoke despite the pleas of loved ones to stop. We are not our own. Our lives, our choices impact others. It is totally selfish to hang onto something that causes those we love such heartache and pain, not to mention the financial stress and drain. Do not be fooled, my friend. Whether it's cancer, emphasema, coronary heart disease-not matter--no one escapes the consequences of long term smoking. It's a matter of what and when. Why would you want to put your family through that? Ask my Babe how it feels knowing, after the fact, what you've put your family through.
But, God is still heals! My Babe is walking around the house, doing dishes and laundry, and making plans to go back to work in the near future. He has no desire for a cigarette-doesn't give it a second thought.
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