COPD Support Group

hI gUYS.. WELL ,Lets see, ok for those of u who dont know me,my name is joanne, 53 yrs young, with stage 4 copd/end emphysema, i was told at 40 quit, but i didnt listin. at 44 i was told u have mild copd,u better quit, did i .nope, i smoked a few more yrs. long story short, i quit 9 mo ago,but as of feb im stage 4 copd, was in the hosp 3wks in may, my lung function went from 33% in feb, to 28% in april to 20-25 % in may.. Is that saying something here!!! ok so im lookin at a mayb possible lung transplant, the 19th ill find out if im reli TERMINAL as they see it, or holdin my own or good to go and get new lungs which is also very dangrous,so eaither way, its a sucky situation, but I lmao everyday,it keeps me going, so part of my therapy is out patient pulmo rehab, its a gym to strengthen the musscles to procces oxygen, its run by the hosp. I used towork there also 14 yrs,) long story short,again lol. I meet up with a coworker, i ask the normal things hows the job u, family bla bla, she said well, we just lost my sister, copd, they told her to stop smkin like 2 yrs ago, she didnt, she smoked,last yr she qut here and there, she wasnt reli quit, she gave her body a rest that all, but wen her body felt better, she smoked, in april,she got up couldnt breath, took her to hosp. put her on a vent, her lungs just stoped workin and she died, she was 49 yrs old, left 2 teenage kids. Is that telling u guys something.after we said good by nice to see ya, on my way home, i was sad for her, wow 49 so freakin young, I thought, how many people take our age let alone our life for granted, this just goes to show u. your ever to young to get this crap and not to young to die from this eaither. so, the choice is urs, its do or die. i wana live. well, think about it. Joanne smokefree 270,a 40 yr smoker,2-3 pks aday, iam still going strong and i wont let anyone take that from me.. go quit guys be4 its to late...thanks guys,just had to vent this to u all...

I know Jo I for one feel soo blessed to be alive and after being so sick a few weeks ago I feel very humble to be doing as good as I am now of course I know it's divine intervention I am doing more now for myself to stay better. I am very proud u are off the nicotine who needs it absolutely nobody!! I wish I new more about the lung transplants. I don't think I want to do that but who knows I might chg my mind. You made a good point for anybody struggling to stop smoking if they listen to your post they should have less trouble quitting. ok I will talk to ya later hang in there girl you got a lot of spunk and that is what this disease needs to fight it. huggs and smiles.

I love this post and hope you posted it at your smoking group. I remember when I smoked and thought I was invisible and that none of this would ever happen to me. Yes, I remember it every time I fill my 02 tank and think what if.

Sue

GOOD MORNING GUYS, THANKS SO MUCH,SUE I DID POST IT THERE AND A FEW OTHER PLACES ALSO )),LIKE ME I REMEMBER EVERDAY WHEN IM TRYIN HARD TO BREATH OR AGGRAVATED B/C I WANA DO THINGS BUT CANT. LIKE U I THUGHT THIS WILL NEVER BE ME, IAM TO YOUNG, YEAAA RIGHT, LOOK AT ME NOW,)

It is so good of all of you to share your experiences with everyone. My hubby started smoking when he was 14 - back when it was "cool" to smoke. Later when they started saying "smoking causes cancer" - he too thought he was the exception to the rule. He was diagnosed with allergies and I think he probably blamed his coughing and shortness of breath on allergies. I'm not saying that the allergies didn't create problems - they did. But even the allergist told my hubby to 'take a drag on the cigarette and hold it in until he got into his car on cold days' so he could breathe. I believe he was being treated for COPD - but I don't recall any of the doctors calling it that - nor did they mention emphasema (sp?). It has only been within the last 4 years maybe that someone mentioned COPD. I pulled out every medical book I had, I went online and read everything I could find. When I read about the stages - he was already mostly a stage 3. He didn't stop smoking until he was in the emergency room and overheard the doctors discussing the fact that 'he wasn't a candidate for a lung transplant and can you imagine he had smoked several cigarettes that day'. Sometime during that hospital stay - he decided he was going to quit - and he did. He hasn't had a cigarette since - but I know how hard it was for him to quit. There were times when he said it felt like something was crawling all over his body. He didn't want the smell of the smoke in the house when he came home - so I did a lot of cleaning before he was released. he didn't count the days since he'd had a smoke - he counted the minutes, hours and eventually the days, months and now years. Still, he didn't throw away the cigarettes - I don't know if he has yet. I know there is an open carton in one of the kitchen cabinets and if I mention throwing it out - he tells me "no". He is so short of breath - I know he hasn't been cheating and smoking any of them - because he can't even get to them. I wonder if he could be a candidate for a lung transplant now that he has stopped smoking?

Struggling to breathe while doing even the simplest things is no way to live. If any of you haven't quit or if you just "cheat" once in a while - please quit. If you don't think you can do it for yourself - try doing it for the person you love most in this world.

Wishing you all easy breathing. Love and hugs, Gail

I worked in a Nursing Home for 5 years part time when I was going to school for LPN. I met several ladies with COPD and had no idea what it was until the nurse told me it was a terminal desease usually caused by smoking. The CNA's would take these people out on the viranda so they could smoke and we would smoke right along with them. I always thought it was just a desease I could get in my 70's and look at me now.

Very few smokers seem to be affected by the thought that they might get this dreaded desease. It really is a shame. Like someone said, if they told you your left leg could fall off if you kept smoking, would that make the impact needed. People just have no idea that, we who have COPD, have daily obstacles that will never go away. They just don't get it cuz for the most part, other than the 02, we look pretty normal, just out of breath.

THATS FUNNY U SAID THAT SUE, 2 WKS AGO I WAS AT A BBQ, EVERY PERSON THAT WAS THERE WAS SAYIN ALL DAY HOW GREAT I LOOK NOW, THEY SHOULD ONLY NO I SAT ON MY SKINNY ASS ALL DAY NOT B/C I WAS LAZY I COULDNT BREATH, NO THEY DONT RELIZE IT BY LOOKIN AT U. BUT WHEN YA GET UP, WATCH OUT. IM A HUFF AND A PUFF AND BLOW YOU AND UR HOUSE AWAY HAHAHAHAHA LMAOLMAO OMGGGG...

YEA EMPHYSEMA PL GOT AS THEY GREW OLD, MY GRAMPS HAD IT, THOUGHT HE WAS OLD BACK THEN HE WAS ONLY 56 AND DIED AT 56 TOO. THEY DID CUT OFF HIS LEG ALSO AND HE DID SMOKE RIGHT UP TO WHEN HE DIED.GAIL THATS SAD HOPE UR HUSBAND FEELS BETTER, HE QUIT SMOKING RIGHT, YEA U HAVE TO BE QUIT 1 YR B4 UR A CANDIATE FOR A TRANSPLANT. LOOK INTO IT. I ALSO NO THAT U HAVE TO BE A CERTIN WEIGHT,THERES A WHOLE BUNCH OF THINGS. GAIL GO TO GOOGLE, GOOGLE IN COLUMBIA HOSPITAL IN MANHATTAN, THEN WHEN U GET THERE, GO TO TRANSPLANT, THERES A TON OF INFO THERE THAT CAN BE HELPFUL TO YOU OR ANYONE. THATS THE BEST PLACE IN THE COUNTRY TO HAVE THIS,HOPE U FOUND IT HELPFUL.. MY APPT WITH THEM IS THE 19TH.