Hi, Barb - This is a GREAT idea!! saw this on the main page, and - zoom !!- here I am !!!
I think this group should have been named "Too Hard-Headed To Quit !!" LOL...(Just kidding, Barb!) I find this subject matter hard to talk about...like when Jerry Reed died - and they said he died of emphysema- that hits WAY too close to home, and upsets me !!!
I have had bronchitis most of my life...growing up in the mid-west, my raspiness and coughs were usually blamed on the humidity. 20 years ago I was finally diagnosed with "chronic bronchitis"...a round or two of antibiotics, and that was it. No inhalers, or meds for my lungs...it was like now they at least had a name for it...and it's NOT going away - so good-bye now !!!
I moved to Texas 4 years ago...one of the first things my doctor here did, was label me COPD, and put me on an inhaler - Advair...and Combuvent (sp?) when I needed some "extra" help. Anything else this doc wanted to put me on, would interact with the meds another doctor had me on for something else !! So, I stick with the Advair !
One med I was on was causing me heart problems...but instead of looking at the particular medication I was on, they sent me to a heart specialist, to see if there was anything wrong with my heart - I couldn't do the stress-test on the treadmill, so I was sent to a Pulmonary doctor for a Pulmonary Function Test - PFT ! When I went in for the results, this doctor got one inch away from my face (no kidding) and said: " You have VERY, VERY severe emphysema - you are gonna DIE !!! It could be very slow, or very fast...but you ARE gonna die !!!" I gave it 2 seconds, look HIM in the face, and said: "SO ARE YOU !!" I left his office and never went back. My regular doctor is treating me (or not) for the emphysema.
I do a lot of herbs - I drink a lot of Mullein tea - you can buy it anywhere...Mullein is a natural healer for the lungs, bronchial fibers, and airways in general. Milk Thistle is a really good herb - I take 2 capsules a day...along with a bunch of supplements I have either been taking for years, of started taking in May, anticipating my quit.
The wheezing that sometimes kept me awake at night, disappeared after the 1st week of my quit ! I started doing a sort of exercise...bend over, let your arms dangle in front of you; slowly rise up, inhaling slow and deep, till you're standing straight up, and your arms are over your head. Exhale as you let your arms drop back to your sides. I do this whenever I think of it (I HATE exercising) and when I'm outside. The first and second time I do this, I can barely get any air into my lungs. By the 4th or 5th time, I can feel my lungs stretching, almost, to fill up with air. It's pretty interesting...get in tune with you body - listen to it - it WILL tell you what it needs - it WILL tell you when it's had enough of something !!
I have been told I am in the "denial" stage of dying...that I refuse to believe what the doctors have told me - that I refuse to make preparations for my "end" or "demise"....and do what the doctors tell me. I say Bull-Shit to that !!! And I will NOT apologize for the cursing...that's how adamant I am. I feel this way - - the human body is very complicated - there is NO way, ANY doctor has it ALL figured out. We have to listen to our own bodies....am I going to die ? We all are...eventually !! I will not die from some medications that the doctor put me on, that caused my disability, and I am up in arms about....(that's another story).....and I will NOT die from the cigarette that I smoked today...because I chose NOT to smoke that cigarette today !!!
I have been clean and sober 16 years.....and I chose life over cigarettes 76 days ago.
Thanx !!