[azasadny]

My mother-in-law (MIL) has had COPD for many years now and she smoked a lot. Several years ago she was started on O2 and she quit smoking, but it was far too late... We've had about 5 years of ups and downs with her COPD but now she's in the final stages, in the hospital, on a ventilator. My father-in-law has a medical background and he knows what's going on. He and my MIL are great people and I really love them. My wife (Beth) and her mother are very close so this is very hard for her, especially at this time of year.

We all had Thanksgiving together and I'm glad we did because she got sick, went to the hospital and was diagnosed with severe pneumonia the Monday after Thanksgiving. We had the whole family together and that's especially significant since she will probably not be with us at Christmas.

I haven't been online too much since we've been busy helping out wherever we can.

Hold your family especially close this Christmas and tell them how you feel about them (if that's a good thing)! We don't have our loved ones forever... at least not here.