Virgie called tonight to updated us on Larry.  Then later, Larry called me
from the hospital.  First, Larry is in a hospital in Mississippi.  I had
forgotten his daughter moved from Louisiana a couple of years ago to
Mississippi.  Virgie said they did a heart scan today and some other things
and learned that there does not seem to be any cancer.  His heart seems to
be fine, too.  He does, however, have double pneumonia.  He is in very bad
shape and being the smoker that he was for most of his life, although he had
quit in recent years, doesn't help any either.  He was not getting enough
oxygen using the normal oxygen hose you wear just below your nose with the
two little things that stick into your nostrils.  Very annoying little
things, too.  I had it for two days and it drove me crazy.  Some times, when
no body was coming in, I would push the thing up higher on my nose just to
get a break from it.  One time a nurses aid came in and jumped on me for
doing that but I just acted like I had been asleep and didn't realize it has
slipped, notice the word, slipped, out of place.  Sure.  Anyhow, they put a
mask on Larry in order to get more oxygen into him.  So the phone rings
tonight and I answer it.  It was Larry, for crying out loud, and he sounded,
as my mother used to say, like death warmed over.  I mean, it sounded big
time bad news.  He was wheezing and blowing and gasping like a bull ready to
charge.  He could not even complete his sentences at times due to the lack
of air.  It really bothered me to hear him talk.  He was relieved, of
course, that they found no cancer and that his heart was ok but he said he
has never been this sick in his life.  He said the worst thing about it was
that, when he lays on his back, his chest hurts as much as his back.  He has
not been able to sleep and I could not sleep either for three out of the
four nights I spent in the hospital and my breathing was no where near like
Larry's was tonight.  Anyhow, it goes without saying that Larry is
frightened and worried and depressed right now.  I told him more than once
that everybody I could get was praying for him and he said he greatly
appreciated hearing that.  I told him I wasn't going to let him go yet and I
told him he can't throw in the towel yet either.  He said he wouldn't do
that but when you are in your early sixties with double pneumonia and you
have already been going through depression for probably a year with no
treatment for it, you can guess the rest.  He asked for something to help
him sleep but they cannot give it to him yet because he isn't breathing well
enough on his own to be medicated in that manner.  I remember how hard it
was to try and sleep that way, too, and as I said, I was not any where close
to his degree of sickness.  So please continue praying for him.

Phil.