Except for the ones in my family, they smoked for over 40 years until it crashed in on them. Both ended up with the same condition at about the same time. Not with the lungs (not that they didn't have problems there) but both came down with a condition where they were both paralyzed from the neck down from a constriction in the cervical spine and had to have surgery.
My brother had to go on constant oxygen, can't go anywhere without that tube, but it's not a trach. He seems happy and content. But my BNL was fussing to get out of bed and go outside and smoke again at the VA hospital as soon as he was able to sit up, although he couldn't lift his arms to smoke. My brother, however, was put into an induced coma and perhaps he broke the addiction while he was out.
My BNL is for all intents, immobile now, using a scooter and still smoking, but less than before. Which was likely more than you, I guess. He was a chain smoker and had a constant supply of cigarette smoke every waking minute and he almost never slept.
They both got great care at their VA hospitals, follow up care at home and BNL had his vehicle modified to be able to get around out of the house.
I've known smokers on constant oxygen who would take off the tube to smoke. One had a stay in the VA hospital where they collapsed one lung at time to fill it with a solution to clean it out, IIRC. It's that powerful.
But I had an aunt and uncle who smoked and did like you. Doctor said he has enphysema and they came home and tossed their cigarettes and never looked back after 50 years of smoking. Everyone is different.
We were taught in high school the effects of smoking on the lungs with pictures of lungs opened up to show it. It was pretty shocking the changes the lungs go through. Then in a college class we learned how smoking deforms the blood cells and affects the metabolic functions.
It's been years since I've thought about it, but it went generally like this: the CO2 inserts itself where O2 is in the hemoglobin, and then as the millions of cells are being reproduced daily, they are not normal anymore. Instead of people dying of CO2 poisoning by combustion, it's slower.
Neither course came out against smoking, they just presented facts and no judgment. After going into what smoking did in the college course, we went onto the next thing without comment. I've talked with some who never saw that in high school and said it would have made a difference to them. I think the high school and college courses showing the cellular change might impress most smokers, I don't know. I've never been a smoker, although as a teen I experimented when a friend gave me some to smoke. I recall smoking two, then noticed my hand going for the next one. It seemed mindless and it scared me.
I'm glad you quit and I hope you stay healthy.
= new reply since forum marked as read
