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Update on my earlier post

 
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smokefree04



Quit Date:
January 1, 2004

Posts: 66

PostPosted: January 27, 2005 11:20 AM    Post subject: Update on my earlier post Reply with quote

First of all, thank you everyone for your prayers and well-wishes, they are appreciated.

I went to my ENT yesterday to find out the results of the chest x-ray and pulmonary function tests.

The chest x-ray showed no sign of pnemonia or anything else.

The PFTs showed no difference between before and after using an inhalor, so no asthma.

The test showed however, that I do have COPD. My ENT wants me to see a Pulmonary Specialist. He mumbled something about respitory rehab.

I asked him if it could be reversed, he said no.

He said this was caused by smoking and years of second hand smoke from my parents.

I am 30 years old.
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Pamela



Quit Date:
-

Posts: 3542
Location: Gardiner, NY

PostPosted: January 27, 2005 11:28 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sarah, you must be relieved to know what you are dealing with. I guess I don't understand about the part about not reversing damage..if that's the case, what's the rehab for?

You are young, and it's great that you know that because you are quit, you will no longer be continuing to do damage to yourself. Please continue to keep us posted on where you go from here.

And give yourself a huge pat on the back for quitting! Smile
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smokefree04



Quit Date:
January 1, 2004

Posts: 66

PostPosted: January 27, 2005 11:55 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pam, the rehab is for me to try and increase my lung capacity through stretching the lungs. The damage itself, and the COPD, are not reversable. COPD is as progressive disease.

Thank you Philip-Morris.
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Kerry



Quit Date:
May 4, 2004

Posts: 862
Location: Illinois

PostPosted: January 27, 2005 1:51 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sarah the good news is that you are young and have been born during a great time. There are so many strides being taken with medicine. It's possible that there will come a day when COPD can be reversed. In the meantime, you are on the road to healing and that's a very good thing. Take care. Kerry
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kannprint



Quit Date:
April 10, 2004

Posts: 4988
Location: St. Louis, MO

PostPosted: January 27, 2005 5:14 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sarah I don't have COPD but do have asthma (also from smoking). Are you using inhalers? They helped me a great deal. Sure glad your chest x-ray was clear. That's fantastic.
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smokefree04



Quit Date:
January 1, 2004

Posts: 66

PostPosted: January 28, 2005 12:16 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, I have an albuterol inhaler, I also am on Singulair & Allegra for my allergies. The inhaler doesn't work for me.

It didn't show improvment on the PFT when they had me to the test with and without a breathing treatment.
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roliveira



Quit Date:
May 7, 2007

Posts: 26
Location: Massachusetts

PostPosted: January 28, 2005 1:51 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sarah (?)

Please do not be afraid. Wait until you see the pulmonologist to become concerned. I have COPD and smoked for 36 years (I'm 42 now) and last year I had lung disease from a drug reaction. I quit smoking for 40 days after the drug reaction and started again. I quit again on Thanksgiving. Two weeks later my peak flows (the home measurement with COPD) had gone up to over 500. Before that, with exercise, etc. they were in the low 400's so it was definitely quitting that brought them up.

Please talk to the pulmonologist because he will tell you that it is never too late to quit and that your pulmonary problems that may be related to smoking can and will get better now that you have quit. Sometimes all of the damage is not reversible, but a large percentage of it is.

So, be hopeful and don't be afraid. Quitting is the absolute best thing you could have done for your self and you are doing a great job!!!!!

Stay strong. Remember: His grace is sufficient.....

Roberta
(day sixty something)
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kevin
Site Admin


Quit Date:
-

Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: January 28, 2005 4:06 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

sarah, i was diagnosed with a severe case of emphysema a little over 3 years ago. at that point, i'd destroyed about a third of my lung tissue, and my doctor told me that the damage i'd done was irreversible. he also said that just because the damage was irreversible did not mean that i couldn't improve my lung function; he explained that the lungs would recruit new tissue that they hadn't been using to perform some of the function of the tissue i'd killed.

and that has turned out to be the case: back in the spring (when i'd been quit for about 2 and a half years), i had all the tests done again, and i had regained a remarkable amount of lung capacity (i can't remember the exact figure, but i'm pretty sure the tests showed a 30% increase - or more - since the initial round of tests when i was diagnosed). my doctor said that as long as i continue to choose not to smoke, i could have my full lung capacity back in another year or two.

so don't despair; the human body is amazingly adaptable, and if you give it time, it will find ways to heal itself. and don't dwell on the fact that copd is a progressive disease; life itself is a progressive disease: from the moment we're born, every moment we live brings us a moment closer to death. but if you kept that thought in your mind all the time, you wouldn't get much out of life, would you?

hang in there, keep that quit going, and never look back.
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kevin

the zen of the quit
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Pamela



Quit Date:
-

Posts: 3542
Location: Gardiner, NY

PostPosted: January 28, 2005 5:19 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sarah...what Kevin said. AND, aren't you glad that you've saved yourself enough money to buy yourself about a hundred pairs of really cute shoes?

Quitting helps more than your physical being...it improves the whole package! so, it's time to get out and get new shoes!
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mtwilsonranch



Quit Date:
January 20, 2006

Posts: 1863
Location: nevada

PostPosted: January 28, 2005 5:57 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sarah, a lot of encouraging advice.. I was using Combivent ( an inhaler) to help me breathe, but since I have quit smoking , I have not had to use it Very Happy

I really like what Pamela has said "Quitting helps more than our physcial being...it improves the whole package" That says it all...

Keep on keeping your quit, you so deserve this life free of nicotine..

Pam
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Barbara K.



Quit Date:
December 23, 2004

Posts: 5977

PostPosted: January 31, 2005 12:13 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sarah,

I also have COPD, but my primary care doctor will not give me a referral to go to a pulmonary doctor or for respiratory therapy. I will not give up though asking him.

Blessings,
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Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn arouind and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Blessings,
Barbara K.
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smokefree04



Quit Date:
January 1, 2004

Posts: 66

PostPosted: February 7, 2005 11:56 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks guys for the encouragement, y'all are awesome! I was feeling like I was just handed an early death sentence by my doctor.

I was under the impression with everything that I read about quitting that after 5-10 years of being smoke free that the lungs would basically have regenerated themselves and it would be like I never had smoked.

Then the doc said that I had early COPD and it wasn't reversible and I was scared and shocked.

I'm glad to hear that so many people had such improvements after quitting. I started tracing the beginning of my problems and realized that the SOB I had started before I quit and was one reason I quit. The chronic bronchitis started about 3-6 months after I quit. I also developed allergies after I quit too. I'm hoping it is just a continued cleaning process and that it will go away.

I have my appointment on the 23rd with the Pulmonary Doc. I will keep everyone posted.

Thanks!
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