My sister Sue

Just got back from a drive to Arkansas, where I visited my sister Sue. She was diagnosed recently with adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer.

She's 50, and has smoked cigarettes since she was 15. In fact, she didn't quit until the day of the surgery.

She was supposed to have surgery last Monday, but the surgeon was in the hospital after having a bad reaction to a drug he was taking. Turns out that was probably for the better because we were able to spend some time with her before she had the surgery Wednesday.

She came through it OK, minus one of the lobes in her right lung and some lymph nodes. She'll also have to have chemo and radiation.

Felt pretty bad for her after I saw her when she had woken up because she was in A LOT of pain, which took several hours for the doctors to get under control.

But she's doing better, and is sitting up for an hour at a time. Still a long road ahead...