The last straw for me was when my friend had to take me to the emergency room for the second time in the same year because of chest pains and difficulty breathing. The first time they kept me in the hospital for several days, trying to rule out a heart attack - I'm 48 years old. They did, in fact, rule out a heart attack and sent me on my merry way. The second trip to the ER, same thing except they didn't keep me, but instead told me to see my regular doctor. After a long visit with my doctor, he sent me to a pulmonary specialist. I was sooooooooo scared. I had to wait about a week before I could get in to see the pulmonary doctor and I was terrified he was going to diagnose either COPD or, gawd forbid - lung cancer. But still, I went outside about every hour and puffed away through coughing, wheezing, hacking and chest pain on my beloved cigarettes. At bedtime, as I'd done for about the last full year, I took my "nightly dose" of Nyquil (to help me not wheeze so much and actually help me get to sleep) and still I'd lay there wheezing until my prescription sleeping pills knocked me out. First thing in the morning, it was straight outside for my beloved puff.
Then the day came to see the pulmonary specialist. We drove the 90-minute drive to his office, and I smoked my cigarette before going in, had about a 15-minute wait and then my life changed forever. His technician took me in the back and started doing breathing tests on me, the whole time telling me about HIS experiences with his e-cigarette. During the almost 2 hrs that I was in that doctor's office, he told me all about e-cig's and even put a clean tip on his so I could try it. I was amazed. The doctor told me that I had asthmatic bronchitis and gave me an inhaler to use twice a day and started me on asthma meds - and set me up with a battery of other tests to completely rule out more serious illnesses. Over the next week or so I went through all those other tests (x-rays, scans, etc). Then one day my pulmonary doctor's office called me and said all the tests came back okay, and told me I didn't need to come back to see that dr - I could follow-up for my meds with my regular doctor. I swear, to this day, my "chance meeting" with that technician was "meant to be".
A couple weeks later, we went to the website the technician told me about and we ordered our Starter Kit. My husband and I have been smoke-free since our first "puff" on our e-cigs. It's been almost a month now and I only use my inhaler once in awhile. No more coughing, no more wheezing, no more chest pain. I can breathe again, and smell, and taste, and sing... but most importantly of all: my 14-yr-old daughter is proud of her mom and dad.
(hope you don't need luck...) (after more than a year of using my PV and not purchasing a pack of smokes...I know you won't need luck...just patience with yourself)
