How do you deal with the ping of a loved one?

I am at school hundreds of miles away from someone in my family who is dying and refuses to have surgery to try to correct the problem. I respect his decision because he is very old and there is no guarantee that he will even survive the surgery. I am afraid that if any thing happens then I will just start crying and I wont be able to stop. Even more heart breaking is the fact that I might never see him again as I am in no position to be able to go home. Since I am in school that will become a problem as the world does go on and papers and tests will still be due. He's in good enough health now that I am not very worried but as he gets worse I think I will start to get more saddened. Does any one have any advice for me that I could take into consideration a few months from now when things get much worse?