A periodic PSA for those who smoke. Just got back from Urgent Care after a week of trying to manage my COPD symptoms on my own. I can go months without any signs of it, can go to the gym 4-5 times a week and can walk without huffing and puffing. I was doing alright until the recent recycling center fire in my area, and the residual smoke that lasted for days did a number on me. Up at all hours, coughing and retching. Sleeping in the recliner in the living room. Needing to excuse myself or mute myself when I am online with clients because the coughing can get intense. The doc who examined me put me on Nebulizer treatments which have helped before. Still rattling. It’s not pretty.
One of the most frustrating aspects is the unpredictable nature of the condition. As a 67-year-old seasoned woman, my stamina isn’t what it used to be anyway. Every time I plan an activity, I hope I am able to go. I have been to a few events, supplied with cough drops to prevent hacking away, assuring the people around me that I am not Typhoid Mary. I did that this morning at Urgent Care. I asked for a mask as soon as I walked in and wore it the entire time, which was blessedly short (I was out of there around 45 minutes after checking in), except for being in the exam room. I walked out a few times so I could rattle loose the yukky stuff without grossing anyone out who might have thought I was coughing up a hairball.
Here’s the kicker. I never smoked but worked for 14 years in environments where my patients smoked so I was exposed to second and third hand smoke. Please don’t underestimate the impact.
When my mom was diagnosed with CHF (Congestive Heart Failure) her cardiologist asked how long she had smoked. She didn’t but her father and brother smoked around her as she was growing up. It cost her her life at 86 in 2010. I am acutely aware that when my ankles or feet get swollen, I need to let my docs know. That happened this time. I have found that elevating them, and exercising (pedaling on the recumbent bike and using the rowing machine at the gym help to push the excess fluid through) prevent them from looking like balloons. Since I haven’t been there in a week, the fluid built up. Edema is a symptom of potential CHF. It’s not on my Bingo card.
While I was waiting in my car in the parking lot for Urgent Care to open, an older man got out of his car next to mine, puffing away on his cigarette and then putting it out on the grass by his car. I shook my head. My filters were working well enough for me to refrain from preaching to him about his actions. I did, however, tell a woman waiting in line behind me to get in, that my coughing was from COPD, not anything contagious. She told me that her husband who didn’t smoke either, had the condition and how it impacted his life. I’m not sure the man in front me heard us. He did hold the door open for me, for which I thanked him. I was, after all, wearing one of my many BE KIND tie dye t-shirts.
I wrote an article for The Good Men Project about my aversion to smoking and the reasons why. This was in 2019, prior to my COPD diagnosis but after a heart attack that the second and third hand smoke might have contributed to.
Before you tell me how much of an addiction smoking is, I know. Before you tell me not to judge, I’m working on it. I think about how many non-smokers are exposed to the toxins in their homes and cars. Even if someone smokes outside, as my patients did, they still have the residual on their clothes, hair and bodies.
If you are inclined to quit, I encourage you. If you have quit. I applaud you. If you are still smoking with no intention to quit, I encourage you to do a cost-benefit analysis.
Smoking is optional. Breathing isn’t.
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