(CECIL MONTGOMERY)
The army couldn’t refuse to let me reenlist, but they suggested I retire, even though I was still in pretty good shape. I started working as an auto mechanic. By 1989 I was missing work all the time. Pneumonia was a semiannual event—every spring, every fall. I was in and out of the emergency room. Eventually I started my own part-time mechanic business so I could just close my doors when I wasn’t feeling well. In 1993, during another bout of pneumonia, a fungus started growing in my lungs. Something was actually growing in my lungs! After the exacerbation, which is an episode in which COPD gets worse due to an infection, my doctor said I would probably have even more problems. The fungus did severe damage. That was when I had to retire for good.
After I retired, I sat around doing nothing and gained a lot of weight. I was also still smoking about a pack and a half a day, just as I had been doing ever since my first cigarette at age 14. On March 4, 1998, at around 10:30 p.m., I went to the bathroom. As usual when I went to the bathroom, I lit a cigarette. I started coughing and I couldn’t stop. I turned blue and passed out. My wife called 911 and they took me to the emergency room. Even though the hospital isn’t far from where we live, I was clinically dead by the time we got there. They brought me back to life in the ER. The doctor told me if I didn’t make some serious changes, I wouldn’t live more than six months. I told him right there that I would never smoke another cigarette, and I haven’t.
Chronic does not mean terminal
The first thing I did after quitting smoking was talk to a friend who had also quit to slow down his COPD. He mentioned an online support group called COPD-Support that he was a part of. I went right out and bought a computer. Doctors can be very vague about COPD because they don’t really understand it completely, but here were patients who could tell me things doctors couldn’t about living with this disease.
People often feel there’s not much they can do about their COPD; there’s no cure for it. Well, it’s chronic, but it’s not terminal. I’ve had it for more than 25 years. Most people are so depressed when they are diagnosed that the first thing they think is terminal. We’ve had a heck of a time trying to get people to drop that expression from their vocabulary. The only way you’re going to die is if you don’t take care of yourself. You can’t blame it all on COPD.
Instead, I tell people to take the time to find out about treatment options. I’ve found that people rarely know about pulmonary rehabilitation, which can be of great assistance. Rehab includes organized exercise programs, physical therapists, and pulmonary therapists. More important, though, are the classes on how to take your medication, breathe easier, and eat well. I wish more people were aware of it; pulmonary rehabilitation can be a lifesaver.
What's more, people should also be more informed about early detection. Doctors don’t tell you that anyone over 35 who has smoked for longer than 20 years should ask for a pulmonary function test at least once a year. It’s all about early detection, prevention, education, and care.
