THE BIG C

My Chinese brother in-law--only brother in-law I have, actually--has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Beyond that I don't know too much. Whether it's small cell or non-small cell and whether it's spread beyond the lung--I don't have a clue. All I know is they found a spot in a chest X-ray, checked it again with a CT scan and told him it was lung cancer. I don't know if they've even done a biopsy, which you'd think would have been an immediate thing, but this is China, not the USA.

Lung cancer is sure not something you'd ever want to have, but if you had to have it, you'd sure rather have it just about anywhere other than China. I've seen their medical care up close and personal and it still sends shivers down my spine to think about it.

Fortunately for Xiao Li, his sister--my wife--knows a lot of Chinese doctors in the US and she contacted one who is a cancer expert--oncologist, I assume--and as luck would have it, he's just gone back to China. So this doctor is going to take a look at Li on Wednesday, June 22, at a hospital in Tianjin, which is about 250 km from Qinhuangdao. There's also a cancer hospital in Tianjin that is supposedly the #1 facility in China. At least that's what they claim.

I got my first look at Chinese medicine in 1988. One of these days I'll write about that experience, which changed my life forever.

In the meantime if you would, please say a prayer for my brother in-law. He's a righteous guy and the kind of person I'd want as a brother if only I had one.