h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My father started smoking cigarettes in 1945 when he joined the Army, and quit in 1965 after the U.S. Surgeon General reported that smoking was causally related to lung cancer. He quit cold turkey and has apparently not smoked cigarettes since then, though he occasionally had a cigar.

That was 50 years ago. For the last year or two, he's been short of breath. This Summer he had some tests done that revealed possible tumors in his lungs. They might or might not be cancerous, but they're hardly harmless as they affect his breathing. Later this month more tests will be done. The family is not optimistic, as Dad is probably too old to be a good prospect for surgery. A relatively noninvasive form of biopsy might be attempted. If the results are
positive, radiation therapy is the most that might be attempted.

It is said that if you give up smoking at age 40, you can hope for a nearly normal lifespan going forward. Dad has already had that and more. Indeed, since he had 20 pack-years [smoking one pack a day for 20 years] behind him and he was five years past the 40-year mark when he quit, he wasn't likely to even have a normal lifespan. But 95? That's at the extreme right end of the longevity bell curve any way
you slice it. He's also a 16-year cancer survivor, having had a cancerous bladder removed when he was 79.

He has the right sort of temperament: moderation in all things, respectful of other people, a gentleman in every way. He has stayed at or near his ideal weight throughout his adulthood. He was the caregiver for my mother during her long period of poor health [she died at 92 in 2013], and has been living alone independently since then.

I hope your dad gets better results than are hoped for Paul. No matter the length of the life, I still think those left behind wish it could have been a little bit longer.

So I wish you that little bit longer with your dad.

Deb

Thanks, deb.

Yes, there is still a chance the growths are not cancerous. We hope for that, of course, but Dad still can't breathe all that well.

Paul, I hope that there will be a positive outcome to your Dad's tests and that the hospital will be able to help with his breathing.

I hope your dad will regain a reasonable quality of life - and very quickly too! - paulh

If its merely breathing difficulty and he hasn't got oone already, you might consider getting him a cpap machine.

I never realized how hard I was struggling to breath while sleeping until I got mine.

Cpap therapy also improves lucidity.

Its funded, by the way, by medicare.

Hoping the test resuts are good.