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| Dear bad boys and girls,
In every class in nursing school, I hear something bad about smoking. I know you guys know it's bad, but I don't think you know HOW bad and how it effects not just you, but ppl you love. So, I decided to write a really really long email about smoking. Every patient I've taken care of so far had this disease (COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Some of them smoked all their lives, but most started in their early 20's. It's really sad... for the person, but also for their family. So read! :) It took me 20 minutes to write this long long email!
Smoking makes you die early. Who wants to live really long in this world anyway? Well, Smoking makes you die a slow painful death... yeah.. it's true.
If you keep smoking, once you turn about 60 or 70, (depending on how long you've been smoking) all the lung cells will be damaged. There are these little pockets in your lungs called alveoli. These alveoli are responsible for allowing gas exchange, i.e. it allows you to breathe in oxygen! Smoking, over-works and destroys these small, vulnerable alveoli one by one. Now, if you keep smoking, eventually all/most your alveoli will be damaged. That's when you will get Emphysema or Bronchitis, but most likely both. What's happens when you have emphysema? You can't breathe. You can't breathe so badly that the only way you will breathe comfortably is when you're sitting up and not moving. So when you want to lie down to sleep, you'll cough yourself awake every night. Not just any kind of coughing, but the non-productive coughing. The kind of cough where you feel like there's something stuck in your throat, but you can't cough it up. If you want to have a good nights rest, you'll have to sleep in a chair. Each time you move, you'll lose your breath. Meaning, you won't be able to play any sports (not even golf), you'll eventually not be able to walk w/o running out of breath. Play with grandkids?.. forget it . Oh, so get a nice chair right? Well, the less you move, the higher the risk of getting clots in your blood vessels. You'll have a high risk of a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis - a clot in your leg). This causes only one side of your leg to swell a lot (the leg with the DVT)! weird and yuk! Then, there's also the risk of that clot dislodging and going into your lung and even your heart! making it even harder to breathe.. causing fluid to accumulate in your lungs.. so now every time you breathe (that's already so difficult as is) you have all this phlegm and secretions (enter bronchitis). You're breathing so hard that you turn pink in the face and you're huffing and puffing all the time.. SO much that the shape of your chest changes. You'll get what they call a barrel chest. It'll look like you literally have a trashcan as a chest. (one of my patients had it! it's sad) Breathing will become such a difficult chore that you'll eventually lose weight because you're using ALL your energy just to breathe. (one of my patients lost 20lbs! .. just in his upper body) Then, because your heart is trying so hard to get the blood to your lungs since your body is telling you that you need more oxygen, you'll eventually over work your heart. When you outwork your heart, a muscle, you'll eventually have heart failure, but of course only one side (the RT side). When you have RT-sided heart failure, fluid backs into your tissues so your swollen.. I mean SWOLLEN like can't move you legs and feet because they look and feel like tree trunks, swollen. Does it kill you?.. eventually, but not quickly. It keeps you alive to suffer a little longer. You can also get Bronchitis. Now your arteries are clogged, but also your airways! You'll have such a hard time breathing, you actually turn blue and you'll be hacking and coughing up secretions all day. Why secretions? because the carcinogens destroy the little hairs in your lungs that help fight infection. So, what'll eventually happen if you keep smoking? that's right, infections galore! will that make it even more painful and strenuous to breathe, but not painful enough to kill you right on the spot?.. of course! Is it bad for your heart? you betcha! smoking clogs your blood vessels, allowing a smaller amount of blood to squirt through rather than flow smoothly. So you'll have high blood pressure. But there's so many pills out there for high blood pressure right? well, now your heart isn't getting enough blood.. and blood is the main transporter of.. so what does that mean? all your muscles don't get enough oxygen. cramps galore, but worse yet, your muscle starts to starve and die. What happens then?.. necrosis - your skin turns cold and literally black. google image necrosis.. it's gross.. i've seen it one of my patients too! Is your heart a muscle? yes! so, of course .. HEART ATTACKS! are there meds to prevent heart attacks?..sorry buddy, no cigar. (hah! ok i'll end this smoking tirade with a pun)
many people with emphysema and bronchitis live with this chronic illness for years.. for a decade or two even.
kinda scary how your body can turn on you and make you suffer so incredibly much if you don't treat it well.
and here's the sad thing. No matter how healthy you are now.. how much you exercise, are in shape, have low chol. and low blood sugar levels now, once the emphysema/bronchitis kicks in, everything just goes downhill and you'll be as sick as someone who didn't take care of other aspects of their bodies.. and think.. while all this is happening to you.. your loved ones (people like your wife, kids, family, friends) will be there to see you suffer through this disease.. and we'll take care of you of course, but our hearts will be breaking to see you in so much pain . and of course we'll try to keep you alive as long as possible because we're afraid to let go of you and will not let you go to a nursing home and want you around to spend as much time together on this earth as possible. *deep breath and sigh*
Worse yet, the people around you (wife, kids, family, friends) are at risk of getting COPD because second hand smoke has the same, if not worse, effect.
Take home points:
1) smoking doesn't just make you die earlier, it makes you die a slow painful death.
2) smoking doesn't just affect you, it affects the people around you (i.e. ppl who love you, like me!) causing them to die a slow painful death as well! (second hand smoke is worse!)
3) smoking will make your loved ones (i.e. ppl who love you, like me!) have heart ache
4) not much can be done to treat it... only prevent.
5) smoking makes you smell yucky and have yellow teeth
6) all of the above can be prevented by quitting now!
t's not too late to quit! the earlier you quit, the more time your lungs have to restore itself... The longer you wait, the harder it will be for your lungs to repair.
k that is all. I'm not writing this to scare you, but because I'm scared for you and I would feel guilty if I knew all this and didn't tell you.
love,
jina | | |
| I’ve always wanted to move to a random
city, making a living as a barista.. Felicity style. work
overtime, mop the floors ( I really do
have a thing with cleaning.. sigh), get to know the regulars, people
watch, meet
a whole range of new people.. a diverse kind.. find out where they come
from, make friends with fellow baristians... they always seem to have
an interesting past. I might not fit in..
oh well, I’ll try. Be that stranger who
sits and listens to you.. no judgment.. compassion. crazy stories. I’d live in a small studio of an apt, just big
enough for my bed.. a twin bed, coffee table, bookshelf, and of course a nice
cozy kitchen with pans hanging on the wall. one wall of the apt painted..
just one.. pictures and snail mail tacked onto my colored wall.
.. perhaps it’s my love of coffee and
needing it every morning to do some business.. or maybe, I’m just drawn to that
environment.. people studying, reading books, typing a news column on their
computer.. (hah!) catching up with friends.. laughing, crying..
Not starbucks. Maybe coffee bean and peets.. but definitely
strada and milano-ish
… once a barista.. always a barista.
Wow, I’m SO glorifying this.
A simple life.. but not comfortable.
.. one day.. maybe one day..
Maybe not a random city, but a familiar
place with good people.
.. a long sabbath.. a good recharging… a
good refocusing.. what I need.
--
hmm.. am I too idealistic?.. a dreamer maybe?
eh, perhaps.  | | |
| I
wonder what his last "sane" thought was before he went on that
rampage. I wonder what it was that made his brain finish the 180
degree turn.... was it an action that he took offensive, a comment, a
look..
While watching the Virigina Tech shooting convocation on this morning,
I felt a couple things: for one, respect and gratitude for
Virginia Governor Tim Kain. I don't know much about him nor his
past, but his short speech appeased me somewhat in thinking that there
are good example christian world leaders out there.. "it's ok to feel
angry like Job... to feel despair like Jesus..." I appreciate his
leadership. second, was slight anxiety bush might say something
about immigrant control (my lack of trust for the current gov't
leadership.. something I picked up at cal).... and why theh heck doesn't our
country have gun control?!!!
lastly, throughout the ceremony, my heart of course went out to the
students who were experiencing grief and loss.. and especially to the
parents who lost their child.. But, I felt most sorrow when
thinking about the shooter, the 23-year old student.. english major,
korean immigrant.. who came to the states at the age of 7.. still on a
greencard. I wonder what his parents, family, and friends (if
any) are going through.. to deal with the pain of losing their son.. to
live with the guilt of the hate that was passed on to the victims and
their families.. knowing korean parents and how they think.. the
guilt would drive them crazy too.. and they'd probably blame themselves
and feel they need to live in shame.. and sadly, other korean parents
probably wouldn't let them forget.. so much hate, in a
perpetuating cycle..
... I wonder what it was that drove Cho Seung-hui to buy that gun last
month.. I'm sure it wasn't one single event, but many that created that
mountain of hate and everything else bad.. was it the pressures of
being characterized as different and not belonging.. pressure from
parents to do well in school and prove his worth.. maybe he wasn't well
off like most koreams who immigrate to the states... maybe his parents
owned a liquor store to make ends meet and the sight of that added
another stick to the growing mountain.. In one of his writings, a
teacher reports that he railed again "rich kids," "debauchery" and
"deceitful charlatans" on campus.. I really wonder what was it
that made him lose his mind yesterday and begin shooting mindlessly,
w/o a word.. with a straight face. was it anger?.. hurt?..
hate? or surrender..
.. I wonder.. if someone had sincerely reached out to Cho.. would
things
be different.. if ppl were more sensitive to his actions.. would the
virginia massacre exist.. not referring him to a counselor or
psychologist.. but someone, maybe like you and me.. someone that
perhaps resembles jesus.. at least a tiny bit.. maybe that might have
stopped the cycle.. so let's say a prayer.. of course for the
vicitms, but also for cho and people like him who are still barely
living..
| | |
| .. for some
time now, I've been thinking I need to start being a more responsible
inhabitant of this world by trading in my "sacrificed too much for
beautiful exterior" car for a more.. efficient, eco-friendly, wallet
friendly,
no-locking-yourself-out-bc-you-unconciously-manually-lock-the-door-
friendly... (.. can you believe I've actually locked myself out of the
car with the engine running?.. not my proudest moment.. my brain's just
conditioned to lock before I close the door!)
.. anyhow, after much thought and looking (I didn't know I was so picky
with my cars).. I finally found something that caught my eye.. but only
leaving me in more of a dilemma than before
...is it really so bad that I want to trade in my car for this one...
 
Sahara rescue(army) green exterior with black trims.. SO BEAUTIFUL!..
it even has power windows and locks!.. nahIIICEeee..
It looks MUCH better in person too..
sigh.. darn you global warning! and conscience! and empty wallet!
| | |
| jina: k.. these 2 ppl lifts are usually really steep so be careful ok? don't fall.
jesse: ok, ok! don't worry! YOU don't fall!
jina: ok, beb.. you go right.. I go left.. got it?
jesse: ok, ok!.. (overly confident game face on)
"OOOH.. NNOOOOO."
..at least our outfits are color-coordinated with our boards.
"as long as you look good" | | |
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