Ex-smoker for 41 years just diagnosed

Thank you for your reply, Redsox; I appreciate your questions as well as your comments. The diagnosis came about as a result of a visit to an Urgent Care Clinic due to a lung infection (the second in a short time) that I developed. I was unable to cough and bring up mucous to clear the infection. The doctor there said she couldn't prescribe an inhaler due to a heart condition I have (left bundle branch block, with irregular heartbeats), so she gave me breathing exercises to do every hour to clear my lungs. The radiologist's report from a chest x-ray she ordered showed "emphysematic changes"; the urgent care doctor was the one who told me i that I had emphysema, and that this was the source of my being unable to ckear the lung infection. She then referred me to a pulmonologist. The earliest appointment I was able to get was for July 2, so I am anxiously waiting for that to clarify my situation.

A couple of months prior to the Irgent Care visit, routine bloodwork ordered by my PCP came back with an elevated CO2 (as I recall, 34, when the top of the normal range is 29). This was prior to the lung infection and X-ray findings, and my doctor dismissed it as random test variation. However, after the Urgent Care diagnosis, I wondered if it could have been symptomatic of emphysema and read that it could. This frightened me, as it seemed to lend additional credence to the diagnosis and, more importantly, to suggest that disease progression was further along than I had thought.

As far as diet goes, my lifelong healthful habits have also included healthy eating (or so I thought). I have been pescatarian for 38 years (no meat or poultry, just a modest amount of fish and otherwise ovo-lacto vegetarian). My diet, has, however, been heavy on dairy products, which we now know is a major source of inflammation.

Thanks again so much for taking interest in my distressing health news.

Hi Brightongirl,

Thanks so much for your encouraging reply. I haven't received genetic testing, but no one in my family that I know of has had any form of COPD, despite the fact that both of my parents smoked, my father heavily, till they were in their mid-30's.

I appreciate the tip on the "respiratory physio". I am in the US and am not sure exactly what that equates to in our health care parlance: a respiratory therapist (usually working in an inpatient setting as part of a multidisciplinary team), a physical therapist with a specialty in respiratory diseases, or some other professional. But it surely seems worth pursuing. I am fairly certain pulmonary rehab will be part of the recommended treatment once I see the pulmonologist, and I look forward to that.

Thanks for your upbeat spin on this dreaded disease. I love your "don't even worry about it"! I know that I am prone to worry since a year ago when my health seemed to take a rather abrupt turn for the worse, with another unexpected diagnosis, an obscure heart disease that results in EKG's that invariably look like I am having a heart attack!

One of my worries about emphysema is that my heart disease precludes use of an inhaler, confirmed by both the clinic doc and my PCP. However, one of the things I really appreciate about this forum is the discovery of novel alternative remedies like the Himalayan salt inhaler!

Hi KatherineK I’m sorry about your Dad passing hopefully he did not suffer. I’m curious though, when was your father diagnosed with Emphysema? and how old was he when he passed? Excuse me for being too inquisitive but I’m always trying to attain peace of mind in learning from the expert of others who have had Emphysema. Again so sorry bout your Dad

Hi Katherine, I really appreciate your reply, and your encouragement that emphysema is not nevessarily a totally uncontrollable doomsday diagnosis! Your mention of secondhand smoke also led me to an insight about where my lung compromise might have originated.

I too had significant exposure to secondhand smoke, living in a very small house with both parents smoking till I was 12 or 13. Then, right after I myself stopped smoking, I was for 3 years stuck like glue to a boyfriend who smoked 3 packs a day of Benson and Hedges extra-long menthol! On top of that, I put myself through college by working after-school and weekends (full-time during summers) in a poorly ventilated drycleaning plant, inhaling tons of toxic fumes. So your reply helps me see that my emphysema is not such a mystery after all. During the years in question (1950-1980), of course, we had no knowledge of the devastating effects of what we were inhaling.

Thanks so much for sharing!