Treating Emphysema and Copd

My husband has been a smoker for nearly 40 years. He is 54 years old now and started smoking at the age of 13. Needless to say all that smoke in his lungs has now caused him to have emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also known as Copd. My husbands lungs are so bad he can't hardly breathe long enough to eat anything. He has to use a breathing machine and oxygen to help him. He also has inhalers to help him breathe but everyday is more of a struggle for him. The doctors say if he gets pneumonia it could kill him because of how bad the emphysema and copd has progressed. Winter months are the most agonizing for him. The coldness of winter makes him cough more.If he had to walk even ten steps when it is cold he will get out of breath. Then all the coughing starts where it scares me to death wondering is that cough going to be his last breath. Coughing even isn't close to what his cough sounds like. He just absolutely gasps for breath. My husband is 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 148 pounds. Every time I try to fix him something to eat he actually says he can't breathe long enough to eat. You also may be asking right now as you are reading this when did he quit smoking? The answer to that believe it or not is he has not quit smoking. He knows how bad the emphysema and Copd is but he has been smoking for so long that he can not stop no matter what the consequences are.

If you are a teenager or even an adult that is thinking that it might be cool to smoke please think about this article before you put that cigarette in your mouth. Living with emphysema and Copd is no life for anyone. I use to be a smoker myself but after I see what my dear sweet husband goes through I knew I had to quit. When you have to watch someone you dearly love struggle to take a breath every minute of the day will just cause your heart to break. The treatments of the oxygen,breathing machine,and inhalers can only help for so long and even the times that those treatments help will never be long enough. Smoking may seem like it's the thing to do because a lot of your friends are doing it but you tell them if they try to pressure you that you are a fan of breathing. One thing you might want to consider even if you have been a smoker for years and you just have a bad cough now what will it be like in a few more years to develop emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? Your decision to quit smoking will make a difference on living or dying.