My uncle has a collapsed lung and I really wanna know, can he survive this?

Me and my mom (His sister) found out that he has a collapsed lung. He stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks and came out. The doctor said that, he can't smoke and that he had it for quite some time. So my uncle stopped smoking cigarettes Immediately but he still smokes drugs. hint its not marijuana. The doctor said that they can't do anything for the lung because he waited too long. So now he takes medicine for the rest of his life. He's only 44yrs old. The doctor also said that the left lung is helping out the right one. I did some research and numerous articles said that the lung can heal by resting, not smoking and no strenuous activity. He's going to see a specialist on 7/19/10 and I really want to know if he'll be okay and that he can survive this. But when you see him it's like nothings wrong with him. He's his normal self. Please tell me what can he do to get though this.