Emphysema, Early Detection

[Sylvia_Deitz]

I know I posted this in some discussions, but I want the new quitters to be sure and read this. I guess there are a lot of smokers who don't even know what emphysema is. I thought everyone knew about it, but after reading this I guess not. It is a progressive disease similar to cancer, but your lungs turn into scar tissue from all the abuse which caused you to lose the elasticity that enables you to breathe.
WE MUST HAVE EARLY DETECTION
Author: Jeanette Vielhaber
Abstract Number: 1049

When I went to the ER on the night of January 29, 1994, I was diagnosed with Emphysema. I finally had a name to go with how I felt. And, I felt bad, with an fev1 of 33%. I had seen my doctor regularly before this. Chronic Bronchitis had been my constant companion and nobody said this would lead to Emphysema. And, even if they had, I would not have known what they meant. There was nothing in the media then to educate me. Nobody said each exacerbation would scar my lungs. I had been told I should stop smoking and I had tried at least twenty times. I did not know that my habit was an addiction and like all addictions needed intervention. That night in ER was my intervention.

For several years before this trip to ER, I complained of being short of breath. In 1990, while on vacation, I was unable to walk up an incline and I was 59 years old. A trip to Colorado in 1991 caused me to barely be able to function. I didn’t know why and I was really scared. Now, I rarely am able to travel. Even a trip to the mall has to be planned like a safari. A lot of hopes and dreams literally went up in smoke.

Today, doctors have tools that can diagnose this killer and everybody who smokes should be observed as a potential patient of Emphysema. Even those who don’t smoke should have access to a spirometry evaluation. Young people, who are so vulnerable, should have more warning than the words on a cigarette package. We need the media to join us in explaining, in detail, what COPD is. Every magazine, every news program and every school should be educating our families and friends. Many of us don’t look sick so the general public still has no fear. If you did not see my oxygen tank that is part of me, you would never realize that I am in the end stages of this disease.

To me, emphysema is no longer a word on a cigarette package. To me, it spells death.

[john-pugh]

Very Good Slyvia,


I too smoked for a long time, and according to my doctor have COPD. Funny thing is, about one hour ago, I took my daily dose of Spiriva. It took a bad case of pnemonia to get me on this drug, and pay more attention to my condition. I walk two miles a day whenever it is possible, and try to take care of what is left of my breathing apparatus. Hang in ther sweetie..and a very good post!

[spunkie]

Oh Sylvia

This is just what we were speaking about. If only young people could see ... If only I could have seen...

Oh and the Chronic Bronchitis thing which I had going on for years and Dr's could not get it under control but I still smoked. Even up to the point where each time I took a puff I would cough so hard that I did break a rid and had to go to the Dr. they Xrayed and sure enough I had broke a rib ...

Now I agree we need more than a few words on a cig pack ... The media should be all over this ... It makes you so angry.

So glad you found this article they sure knew what they were talking about.

[dawn4]

Thank you for sharing this, Sylvia.
you were probably typing this blog at the same time that i was typing mine....it adds an exclamation point to my comments for sure.

[cindywilson]

I am so there!!!I have been diagnosed with severe COPD and it is not a joke at all....I had no idea what it was and as I read I was so scared, because this was my diagnosis,but I still smoked until my intervention at the ER when I could no longer breathe and the doctor told me I was going to die from this and wouldn't make it one year if I didn't quit....horror was I left the hospital, got in the car and lit up...in that moment I knew I was an addict, it hurt to even breathe but my junkie self still wanted to smoke, that was my last cigarette...

[Carenda]

Thanks for posting, Sylvia! This is good information not only for the newbies but for all of us who have smoked. It is not a pretty picture. This is the first time that I have seen the effects of what Emphysema looks like. We all think that if we can avoid lung cancer that we will be okay. The doctors and professionals are forgetting about Emphysema and COPD. This is a wake-up call for everyone.

[kellie3]

Sylvia,
I love this post. I hate that picture up there and I hate that it is happening to you but love the information. I am so sorry to hear you have had bad times. I agree that there needs to be more information. I get irritated by some of the commercials I see on TV. The one about chantix just bugs me to death. They highlight the fact you can smoke while taking the drug... incinuating that you can smoke while you try and quit. It is ridiculous!

COPD and emphysema is frightening. Talk about your great idea for a halloween costume! LOL
I am so sorry that my friends here suffer so badly with this illness. It really is one of those things that unless you experience first hand the effects you can't understand how scary it is. My body has actually begun to change. My chest is expanding (and not in a flattering way lol). My rib cage is being pulled apart by my over inflated lungs.
Sending big hugs to all of you. I wish you comfort and happiness.

[Brenda_M]

Oh, Sylvia, Kellie, thank you so much for educating us on this disease. I admit that it was only recently that I tried to see what emphysema actually is, but even the articles I found on the Internet weren't very clear. No one said, "turning the lungs to scar tissue." It was always a bunch of medical jargon that I couldn't understand. I learned more reading from the COPD group here, but even then, I wasn't learning what it WAS, but what it could DO. I mean, both are useful, and perhaps the latter is even more useful, but I mean, talk about not thinking of the consequences of my actions!

[sarah-manley]

Hello Sylvia
Thank you for posting this. I am 42 years old and have been quitting all year on and off. When I have smoked this year within days I get short of breath and an ache develops deep in my chest. I am afraid to find out what I have done to my poor lungs as I was a 3 pack a day smoker for years. I have not smoked for 7 days. I can take a deep breath without that horrible little ache..... In just 7 days I feel the difference. The challenge now is to make it the next 7 and the next until I am off Commit, off gum, off patches and FREE! This picture of the diseased lung needs to go up on my fridge. My hands are shaking as I type this.

[ruthann2]

Wow... this is frightning. I am praying for all of us and myself. My quit date is October 25, and I'm so ready!

[beth24]

Whoa! Powerful stuff here...scary as hell! Alot scarier than not having a cigarette! Thanks for the reminder. They should have an Addiction 101 class in every high school in this country!! Peace