Let's Talk About Lungs...

I sat at a red light the other day and noticed a UPS driver taking one long, last hard drag off his cigarette before the light turned. I fought the temptation to honk and scream "you ass, stop that!!!!" Why, I wondered, would someone in this day and age still smoke? The UPS man knows that smoking takes 10 years off his life. Explaining that to a young guy is pointless though when they have their health and stamina. Give the guy a bout of emphysema and he might finally kick the habit. It isn't only smokers I rail on. Not too long ago I watched workers sand and stain a wood floor with no face masks. The electric sander blew a cloud of particles into the air. Once that crap goes in, only so much of it comes out. UGH!!!!! To be honest, this self-righteous lung preaching didn't just happen. It took me wising up. And that started with my family getting sick.


In February, my dad was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Fibrosis of the lungs is scarring of the lung tissue which makes breathing difficult. It's a fatal lung disease with no absolute known cause. Some patients have had exposure to asbestos, but for others it's tobacco smoke. Still many can't pinpoint a cause at all. When I heard about his disease, my first thought was "cut out the bad crap". What's so crazy about all of this is that lungs cannot be operated on like a heart can. My dad's only long-term chance of survival would be a lung transplant. Lungs are essentially fragile balloons. They fill with air and help transport that air throughout the body. Sometimes they collapse, flood, and it's lights out for the whole body. I never understood why so many people died from pneumonia, but when the lungs are involved, there isn't much that can be reversed or fixed.

Nora was diagnosed with asthma last spring. From January to May we had about 3 weeks of clean and easy breathing. For the other infinite, long days of winter, she was sick with a chest cold or cough. I keep the local pollution report on the computer , and sent her out wearing a mask when the ozone levels were high. With Nora, I seek some comfort in knowing that the asthma is something she'll probably outgrow. And I can live with that.

But for my dad, it won't be something he can shake. He has been told IPF will be what takes him down. We will never know what caused my dad's sickness, but the doctor could not discount 25 years of smoking. Coincidentally, my dad has four good friends spread around the country that are suffering from terminal lung diseases, including IPF and lung cancer. Our next door neighbor, a general contractor, has been diagnosed with COPD, a chronic lung disease, due to his lifelong exposure to asbestos.


There is a perennial pile of crap on my desk that sits for weeks at a time. Yesterday, I was rifling through the stack, when I ran across an envelope. The envelope had a fresh, unused stamp on it, and the mailing address was the American Lung Association. For years I have been receiving this same SASE from my neighbor. It's intended use is to mail in a donation, not to pilfer the stamp, as I've done in previous years. This year, I held on to the envelope. This year, I made the leap and read the literature from the ALA. Funny how in the space of a couple of seasons, something can resonate so loudly, so brutally for you, that you can't ignore it. I'm gonna send that envelope in. I really am. I ask that you do your part. Realize how fragile your lungs are. Stop smoking. Protect your lungs. Lecture over.