Phil,

I will continue to pray for him, please tell Larry we send our love and
prayers. Also I'm praying for Virgie, too. I know this is hard on her, as well.

I can relate to not being able to finish sentences, as when I had double
pneumonia 2 years ago and was in the hospital, I couldn't talk very well.
Especially when I was first admitted. I was scared out of my mind, but
obviously, Larry is much worse than I ever was.

Phil, I hope you are feeling better.

God Bless everyone.

Love,
Pat Ferguson


At 09:36 PM 12/27/03 -0700, you wrote:
>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.