Atelectasis or Pneumothorax
For the continuation of the story of my almost demise, click HERE. Turns out, all I needed was a quart of Catdaddy moonshine.
Image via WikipediaSmok’em If’ya Got’em!
I guess I was about 6 years old the first time I ever heard that. Out in the tobacco fields of 1960s North Carolina, nearly everybody had cigarettes or chewing tobacco in their pockets. At six, of course, I didn’t have either. But I had eyes, and I watched the men all fire up or cut off a chunk to chew. Literally every man in the field had something made of tobacco, and like all little boys, I wanted so much to be a man.
By the time I turned seven years old I had started stealing Old Golds from my granddaddy. He worked for the Lorillard company over in Greensboro. Every week he’d bring at least a carton of cigarettes home, a benefit of working for the ‘factory’. Every week, I’d steal a pack and sneak around outside, pretending I was a man.
About a year later, my grandmother, Mama Lacie, caught me. She gave me a choice of being whipped or having my mouth washed out with Lava soap. When I chose the belt, she firmly let me know that the smoke went into and out of my mouth and it was that end of me that was going to get worked on.
Lava soap has a taste you never forget. I didn’t smoke for about a year after that. But during my 10th summer, working in the tobacco fields, the inevitable smoke break would come every morning. I don’t remember which day it was. I don’t remember which man it was. Still, one day that summer, one of the men in the field offered me a smoke and I took it. I’ve been smoking since that day, with only a few brief interludes.
Atelectasis
That was 39 years ago. Last week my left lung partially collapsed. It is perhaps one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever had to endure. Sitting here at this keyboard is nowhere near easy. But I feel like I need to let you know what’s happened here, why I haven’t published anything here in a week.
According to the online Mayo Clinic,
‘Atelectasis may be due to compression of the lung tissue or obstruction of the air passages (bronchi). The collapse may affect only a small part of the lung or the whole lung. Pneumothorax and pleural effusion can cause the lung to partially collapse without closing off any of the airway. A partially collapsed lung may slowly re-expand without treatment. But a severe collapse of a whole lung can be life-threatening and requires emergency medical attention.
…
If you experience the signs and symptoms of atelectasis, including shortness of breath, chest pain and cough, seek emergency medical attention.’
Well, I have a sincere dislike and lack of trust of medical people and modern medical procedures. I have yet to allow a doctor to look at me. But I am giving it some consideration. At the least, I should probably have some xrays done.
Pneumothorax
So what actually causes something like this to happen? We can say: ‘Smoking causes it!’ but that tells us nothing, really. Again, the Mayo Clinic has a great series of pages on it:
A lung can collapse for many reasons: a growing tumor blocking a major airway, an infection, even an inhaled foreign object. One type of lung collapse, known medically as a pneumothorax, occurs when air leaks into the area between your lungs and chest wall (pleural space). The pressure of the air against the lung causes it to give way, often leading to mild to severe chest pain and shortness of breath. A pneumothorax can be caused by a chest injury, certain medical treatments, lung disease or a break in an air blister on the lung’s surface.
A lung collapses in proportion to the amount of air that leaks into your chest cavity. Although the entire lung can collapse, a partial collapse is much more common. A small, uncomplicated pneumothorax may heal on its own in a week or two, but when the pneumothorax is more severe, the excess air is usually removed by inserting a tube or needle between your ribs into the pleural space.
If air continues to build up, the increasing pressure can push your heart and blood vessels toward the uncollapsed lung, compressing both your lung and heart. Called a tension pneumothorax, this condition is life-threatening and requires immediate medical care.
Clear The Smoke
Let me make this clear. If you smoke, you will eventually harm your body. You can play the odds, and you will lose. You can pretend that it doesn’t affect everybody, and you will be proven wrong. You can laugh at the warnings from your friends and family, and you will eventually not be able to laugh without pain. You can ignore the warnings all around you, and in ignorance, you will reap the appropriate rewards.
If you smoke, you are probably already addicted. You’ve played with the idea of quitting, but the addiction is so hard to beat. You can’t imagine a stronger addiction. Well, I can.
I am Jon, and I am addicted to life.
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