tobacco rant
Mar. 10th, 2005 03:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcI can’t speak to how much fun dying from lung cancer or heart disease is, but I know from emphysema (also known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD). That’s what Ma’s dying from.
She has lost the ability to respirate naturally. She cannot take a full breath, because she cannot fill her lungs. Their elasticity is virtually gone. When she falls into deep REM sleep she wakes up gasping for breath. If she talks too quickly it takes several minutes to regain her wind.
She coughs--constantly, rattling, mucousy coughs--but can’t get much to come up. If it’s too dry she can’t breath; if it’s too humid she hyperventilates--and can’t breath. She cannot walk, or push herself in a wheel chair, and she’s less and less able to feed herself (it exhausts her).
And this is all while being on oxygen 24/7.
But the hardest part is the fear in her eyes. Will this coughing fit be the one that puts me on a ventilator forever? Will this gasping attack become respiratory failure? Have I reached the stage where I can’t get enough of the gunk out of my lungs, effectively drowning in it? I cannot imagine the terror she must feel.
But she’s a fighter, and won’t give up. So we’re with her--go Ma! Though I could live with it if she decided enough’s enough.
My mother began smoking in an era where the ramifications of cigarette use were unclear. Today we know better. It must be really, really hard to quit, but please don’t use abstract justifications for continuing to smoke. Because, even if you’re ok with hastening your demise through smoking, those who love you don’t get to choose to watch.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s much, much harder for Ma. Totally. But it’s horrible for all of us.
Tobacco companies: corporate scum at their worst. Purveyors of misery. They think we’re stoopid enough--they rely on it. And in places where people are smartening up (US, Canada, Europe), they’re moving their efforts to the developing worlds, where information on the dire consequences of smoking are less accessible.
Heartless fucking bastards.
She has lost the ability to respirate naturally. She cannot take a full breath, because she cannot fill her lungs. Their elasticity is virtually gone. When she falls into deep REM sleep she wakes up gasping for breath. If she talks too quickly it takes several minutes to regain her wind.
She coughs--constantly, rattling, mucousy coughs--but can’t get much to come up. If it’s too dry she can’t breath; if it’s too humid she hyperventilates--and can’t breath. She cannot walk, or push herself in a wheel chair, and she’s less and less able to feed herself (it exhausts her).
And this is all while being on oxygen 24/7.
But the hardest part is the fear in her eyes. Will this coughing fit be the one that puts me on a ventilator forever? Will this gasping attack become respiratory failure? Have I reached the stage where I can’t get enough of the gunk out of my lungs, effectively drowning in it? I cannot imagine the terror she must feel.
But she’s a fighter, and won’t give up. So we’re with her--go Ma! Though I could live with it if she decided enough’s enough.
My mother began smoking in an era where the ramifications of cigarette use were unclear. Today we know better. It must be really, really hard to quit, but please don’t use abstract justifications for continuing to smoke. Because, even if you’re ok with hastening your demise through smoking, those who love you don’t get to choose to watch.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s much, much harder for Ma. Totally. But it’s horrible for all of us.
Tobacco companies: corporate scum at their worst. Purveyors of misery. They think we’re stoopid enough--they rely on it. And in places where people are smartening up (US, Canada, Europe), they’re moving their efforts to the developing worlds, where information on the dire consequences of smoking are less accessible.
Heartless fucking bastards.
