[tipper1492]

My brother, age 69 or so, has COPD. Thing is he still smokes. Brother n law said his understanding is it's rather bad now. COPD has no cure. I just can not understand why he keeps smoking. I read about it on the net, and it all sounds horrible, and the suffering till death is also terrible. Then there can be heart disease, and other health problems. Brother n law said he has to take oxygen at times. His son said he gets winded easily.

[healingme4me]

((((tipper1492)))) Does sound like a terrible illness
He has.

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[Angelique67]

Hi, I'm 56 and I also still smoke and I have COPD. I'm doubting I'll live to be 69 or maybe even 59 because I can't seem to get ready to quit smoking. It's a horrible situation. My lungs make scary noises when I lie down and it's gotten a lot worse just in the past three years. I'm scared but I still can't quit smoking.

[gayleggg]

My mother died from COPD and it was terrible to watch. She at least had quit smoking back when the first told she had it because they said she would live longer if she quit. It was a long slow death but she did live to be 78. She had quit smoking about ten years earlier.

[tipper1492]

Thank all of you for sharing. I have read about COPD and it is horrible. Many have all kinds of problems including depression and anger. I wonder if my brother knows that much about it. I feel his wife, and his son and daughter do. I myself wish I had stopped smoking forty or more yrs ago. How stupid I was, but being Bipolar, smoking and drinking may have been self medicating. I read this 25 page report on the net. Searched GOOGLE - END OF LIFE CARE IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE: IN SEARCH OF A GOOD DEATH. It's so very depressing, all that's written here about COPD. Wish I knew this a long time ago, and then just maybe. In short it states "Many barriers hinder the provision of good end of life care in COPD, including the inherent difficulties in determining prognosis.

[tipper1492]

I'm age 64 end of this month, stopped smoking maybe two years ago, but that's not something to believe my life span will be longer than normal. Think I read maybe two years longer, and think I read it takes 10 yrs for the lungs to return to normal function but I'm not sure. I waited late the the so called game to throw the dice.

[Angelique67]

I wish you well tipper. I'm 56 but still haven't been able to quit smoking. I lay away nights with anxiety about dying.

[tipper1492]

I'm sorry about the anxiety angelique67. Thanks for getting back to me.

[bounceback]

I watched my mom die from COPD this year in March. She was 85. She quit smoking 30 years ago. She was a chain smoker until she quit. You are right it is horrible watching someone die from COPD. Sometimes you think they are on their last breath and than they do a turn around and act healthy. It is really like a rollercoaster. Her doctor told us that most people with COPD end up in a coma and then die which is exactly what happened to my mom. My mom started getting really bad the last two years of her life. She was on oxygen for a long time before that. I don't get why family members continue to smoke either. I have a brother and sister who are heavy smokers and another brother who uses the E cigarette. My mom also had a lot of anxiety due to fear of not being able to breathe. I guess that is fairly common with people with COPD.

[Angelique67]

So nice to find out how I'll die. And I thought it would be from a cold or flu.

[bounceback]

You can still have a long life though.

[Angelique67]

Thanks. I really have to lose weight. A heart attack will surely get me if I don't.

[thickntired]

I smoked cigarettes for 20 yrs but weed for 30 yrs. Jan 2015 will be 3yrs off both. My husband who is 11 years older drinks and has smoked cigarettes for like 40 years. He is an abusive alcoholic with major anger issues. I'm divorcing him and will never miss every morning when he hacks up phlegm. He won't go to a Dr and has no health insurance. I'm not going to nurse him for 20 years.

[Laini]

My neighbour 82 died of COPD. She never ever smoked, didnt even try smoking as a teenager... she suffered from bronchitis and asthma all her life.

[sideblinded]

My mom died of lung cancer from smoking up until her diagnosis. She fought a hard battle but it was the smoking that killed her. My grandfather also smoked and had emphysema. He died from an aneurysm.

COPD is an awful way to die. I am only being honest here. I saw way too much. If there is any way that you can stop smoking please do. I cannot emphasize this enough.

[jaynedough]

I was stupid for smoking at all b/c I have asthma as well as scar tissue in my lungs. But I did smoke for over 25 years. Since I was a child, I've had several pulmonary function tests done. My small airway (where O2 exchange takes place) function was usually in the 20-30% of predicted. Less than a year after quitting smoking, I started blowing in the 40-60% range. So there was definitely objective evidence that I didn't just not get worse, I actually got better. I was able to do alot more, even though I was still exposed to a significant amount of secondhand smoke.

My mom smoked for over 50 years. She still smoked after she went on O2. It got to the point where she would take a breathing treatment, wear her O2 till she got back to her bedroom, take it off, go in the bathroom and smoke a cigarette, put her O2 back on and come back to the living room, gasping for air. It drove nuts (well, nuttier ) I would get so upset and frustrated. It was so hard to watch. I tried to remember that I am not so innocent myself. I knew a little of what she was feeling physically b/c my own breathing issues were fairly severe.

I tried to get her to quit smoking several times over the years, but she just couldn't understand that her smoking was causing her breathing issues. She'd say that she had developed asthma. (Denial is a huge medical issue for all of my family, myself included.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, while it is incredibly difficult to quit smoking, slowly suffocating to death is harder.

My mum had COPD, It is a horrible illness, she died 2 years a go of organ failure

[notz]

I recognise so much of what's been said. My mom had COPD and continued to smoke for 4 more years until a cold put her in the hospital. They told us she was going to die. Like Bounceback said, she took a turn for the better and bounced back!

That's when she quit smoking. That's when I did too. (17 years now)

She lived 4 more years. She was scared of dying, yes she was. I didn't know how to give her comfort. We had had problems over the years. I did the best I could and so did she. I held her in my arms right before she flatlined. We had to let her go.

I reach out to you and hug you, those of you who have shared here.