My friend Susan (not her real name) called me yesterday to tell me she's just been diagnosed with COPD. She feels terrified because she is a single parent with a young son and knows that COPD can lead to death. The reason she was diagnosed is because she caught a cold from me. I had a sore throat for about 3 days, along with painful bronchial tubes and a feeling of weakness. Susan caught this cold from me, but it hit her harder than it hit me because she smokes. When she went to the doctor for what she thought was bronchitis, the doctor questioned her about her cough. He started by asking her if she started her mornings trying to clear the phlegm out of her lungs. She agreed that this was how she started her day. He asked her if this had been going on for a year or more. When she said she wasn't going to answer that he said he would take that as a "yes" and told her she had COPD. She told me she's been coughing up mucous in the morning for at least two years. She has been a smoker for about 20 years.
I have another friend with COPD. Her name is Penny (also not her real name). When she was diagnosed with COPD about 12 years ago, she was told in no uncertain terms that she needed to quit smoking. Although she told her doctor that she had quit, but she continued to smoke. Within 3 years of her initial diagnosis, she received her first prednisone prescription to help rid her lungs of the mucous associated with having bronchitis. Prednisone, a steroid, helps loosen the mucous so that you can cough it up. Her doctor warned her at that time (about 8 years ago) that prednisone use came with risks and she would be able to use it three or four times total before side effects came into play that would force her to never use it again. She continued to smoke, continued to get lung infections and continued to have prednisone prescribed. Five years later (three years ago) her COPD had progressed to the point that she had to quit working and go on disability. She tires easily and is always short of breath. When Penny was sick with the cold that I caught from her and Susan caught from me, it hit her harder than ever. She couldn't stop coughing, but the coughing provided her with no relief. All that happened was that her entire upper body got sore from the constant coughing. She couldn't rid her lungs of mucous and began to cough up blood. She was prescribed prednisone again. Instead of using it the three or four times total as she had been told eight years earlier, she used it one to three times per year for eight years before the side effects hit her. The side effect for Penny is alarmingly high blood pressure. I don't know if she's finally been scared into quitting smoking - we don't discuss it - but I sure hope she has. I hope Susan quits smoking before her COPD progresses to the point of Penny's.
For those of you who don't know what COPD is, Wikipedia defines it this way: "Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of diseases of the lungs in which the airways become narrowed. This leads to a limitation of the flow of air to and from the lungs causing shortness of breath. In contrast to asthma, the limitation of airflow is poorly reversible and usually gets progressively worse over time. COPD is caused by noxious particles or gases, most commonly from smoking, which trigger an abnormal inflammatory response in the lung. The inflammatory response in the larger airways is known as chronic bronchitis, which is diagnosed clinically when people regularly cough up sputum. In the alveoli, the inflammatory response causes destruction of the tissues of the lung, a process known as emphysema. The natural course of COPD is characterized by occasional sudden worsenings of symptoms called acute exacerbations, most of which are caused by infections or air pollution."
In simple English, COPD is a combination of asthma, bronchitis and emphysema that are with the sufferer constantly, 24/7. Once you have it, it's there for life and it gets worse with time. By stopping smoking, you can dramatically slow the worsening of this disease. With COPD, lungs lose their elasticity and ability to absorb oxygen from the air you breathe in and also lose the ability to get rid of the carbon dioxide left behind after the oxygen is absorbed. Mucous production is increased but because your breathing process is impaired, you can't get rid of the mucous either. COPD is one of the major causes of death worldwide, and it can cause increased respiratory infections, high blood pressure and heart problems as well as lung cancer. COPD makes you tire easily and short of breath. It means you will eventually need to use a lot of expensive puffers (prescription) to keep your airways clear enough to breathe half decently. It means that on a cold and windy day, even if you keep your nose and mouth covered, you wind up paying the price for having gone out at all. That cold wind affects your ability to catch your breath and makes your lungs hurt for a day or more. It can make you susceptible to catching a cold that will quickly progress into bronchitis, pneumonia or asthma. It means that catching a simple cold is not simple. A simple cold will always work its way into your lungs, and you will without a shadow of a doubt develop bronchitis, bronchial asthma or some form of pneumonia that will force you to seek emergency medical help.
I started smoking when I was 11 and smoked for about 30 years before quitting for the last time. I remember that when I started smoking, I was bullied into it. The popular kids (I wasn't one of them) knew I had access to cigarettes because my parents smoked, so they told me if I didn't start smoking with them, they would tell my parents that I did, and since there were more of them than me, they assured me my parents would believe them rather than me. I bought into it because we're really not too swift at age 11. I'm pretty sure nothing has changed where starting to smoke is concerned. When we begin to smoke as adolescents, it's usually in an attempt to be accepted and to fit in. I thought smoking made me look pretty cool and grown up. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Too bad I set my standards so low!
What prompted me to finally quit smoking? Every year, I got four or five colds. From the time my cold symptoms started, it would take less than 24 hours for me to develop full-blown asthma, bronchial asthma or bronchial pneumonia. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that one day my smoking would kill me. I determined and promised myself that the next time I developed cold symptoms, I would quit. The evening of March 18, 1995, I had a sore throat. The following day, I had to go to the doctor for antibiotics as I had already developed bronchitis. That was the day I quit forever. I chose life and health over illness or death and I don't regret it. Is quitting smoking easy? No. You're an addict as certainly as an alcoholic is, and you have to know that there is no way you can ever control smoking. It will always control you. The first few days weren't the worst. It was after a few weeks that it was tough. I quit cold turkey and it worked for me. However, there are many products on the market that can help you stop smoking, and a medical doctor also has products he or she can make available to you to make quitting easier.
We all seem to be aware that we would be much better off health-wise and financially if we didn't smoke, yet when we are addicted to smoking, we would almost rather give up food than cigarettes. We wall ourselves off to the reality that we are spending a great deal of money to harm ourselves. Even highly intelligent and intellectual people fall victim to that lie. We are told time and time again the risks associated with smoking, but it's like so many other things in life where we tell ourselves it will never happen to us.
I will never smoke again. I love the fact that I no longer stink. I love the freedom of being able to go wherever I choose and for how long I choose without being consumed by the need to smoke. I used to plan my outings with how often I could sneak away to smoke. Having two friends with COPD makes me so thankful that I have been spared their diagnosis. My lungs are completely healthy again. Anyone who is a smoker and reading this, I can only tell you what you already know: quit smoking. COPD (or cancer or emphysema, etc.) can happen to anyone, including you. Quit today.
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