Marty (mine and D’s “second son”) and my team member for my two bicycle rides for the animals has been diagnosed with lung cancer (he is a 3-4 pack a day smoker). To learn more about this unique young guy visit my last bike ride website if you want to. He has had many tragedies in his life. D and I didn’t know about this till this morning.
Bill
Shit. I just messed up again, didn’t I? PLEASE erase this or whatever you need to do to keep me out of trouble! SORRY, SORRY, SORRY!
B~
Except for the offer to read more, it looks legit to me.
I can spare a thought for Marty. Here’s two.
Good luck to him.
I’m wore right the fuck out. I am sorry I keep messing up like this. I KNOW the rules, I just can’t remember them
Don’t worry about it, Quasi, you didn’t break any rules.
More thoughts for Marty. And for you and D, too.
Thank you, Twicks!!! :):)
He is a very sweet young man. No girlfriends, no partners, no nothing. Just a very nice and single guy, and D and I consider him our “second son” (our first son Jason’s
“brother” (they’ve been friends for 20 years!)
He has his own place, but no one to take care of him, so me, D and Jason are ready to move him in with us here. We appreciate your well-wishes, everyone! We sure do!
Here’s one for him, and y’all will have to substitute a word or so! (“Second” For “Seventh”, got it? :))
Love you guys, and our thanks!!! We know to treasure your thoughts and prayers!
Bill
He’s in my thoughts and prayers, as are you and D.
Okay, here’s what we found out:
Pneumonia
COPD
A CT (catscan) showed 2 spots on the lungs (don’t know which lobe).
His doc told him the spots are inconclusive, but they’d do CT repeats to keep an eye on their growth if any, but that in light of his heavy smoking (he admits to only one pack a day, which is BS, because he’s been smoking since he was 9 and he’s 49 now), he could not rule out the possibility of lung CA
Marty heard “cancer” and freaked
Called me (the walking panic attack) and then I freaked and came here, where my friends are.
One thing making me sure he’s more than a pack a day smoker is because when we were on the cross-country ride, they had to stop the van about every 25-30 minutes for him to smoke while I rode on ahead.
Another thing is that in spite of his breathing problems, his Oxygen saturation level (the amount of O2 carried in one’s red cells) is 100%, which in a heavy smoker is an anomaly. No one smoking that heavily should have a sat of 100%. My own is 97% and I do not smoke.
So what I suspect is that he smokes so much and so often that it builds up his carbon monoxide level so high that it never recovers and so the sat score reads high.
We see this in people who have smoke inhalation from house fires or faulty space heaters, and the only way to be sure about the CO (only 1 molecule of Oxygen, right?) is to draw some arterial blood and test for that, which was not done while he was a patient.
Remember, IAMAD, and what I wrote above is my interpretation, subject to correction by those of you not as batshit as I am. 
Thanks
Bill
Quick Update: He was taken by ambulance to our Tanner Medical Center’s ER last night in pretty rough shape, and his doctor wanted to admit him again. Heneeded to be admiited again, because he’s gradually getting worse, but he refused. Would y’all like to guess why?
because he can’t smoke while he’s a patient!
My son just called us and told us they’d again called an ambulance this morning, and this time, Jason said, he’s not able to refuse.
Thanks
Q
That’s so very sad. Smoking is a brutal addiction.
That’s sad that he is still smoking. Maybe if he gets off the cigs for a few days in the hospital it will make him reconsider.
Hope he is able to move in with you guys. It sounds like you guys could all benefit from having each other around to help each other.
I’m so sorry to hear that, Quasi. You know what you need to do? Addict him to WoW, then drag him around Azeroth with no breaks! Then he won’t have TIME to go smoke!
Thanks, jay, and yeah, that would be great and he has done D&D before (the live version).
Here’s what my experience has been with people with COPD, especially end-stage: The first thing we usually tried was BiPAP via mask and force air down the airways to expand the lungs.
Sometimes that will turn them around, but that mask has to be very tight with no leakage, so they may not tolerate it, depending on how far along they are. If that happens, they “buy a tube”, meaning they get intubated and put on a ventilator. This may or may not happen with our friend. He’s still young and hopefully we can turn him around, but I doubt it: He was sent home with a patch a few days ago, and you can guess what he did, right? Smoked on top of the patch.
So here’s what I’m thinking: He goes on a vent, he gets weaned off the O2 gradually and if he maintains his O2 saturation level and his aterial blood values stabilize, he’ll come off and eventually go home.
Knowing him as we do, however, D and I agree that although they will have fixed the body, nothing will have been done about the mind, and his is a very addictive personality (as it is with all heavy smokers, right?).
“Scared straight?” We hope so, but he’s had a lot of tragedy in his young life, and we believe the cigarettes are his way of dealing with that - they assuage the pain.
He’s a “shirt of the back” kinda guy and never misses a chance to tell D and me that he loves us.
So we’re sitting by the phone, waiting to hear back. D is still not 100% with walking and I of course can’t drive, so here we are.
Thanks for being there for him and for us, guys!
Bill
Have you given thought to an electronic cigarette for him? He still gets the nicotine in the way he craves (hand mouth sucking habit) yet no nasty smoke and carcinogens.
He can even (don’t tell anyone I said this) do it sneakily in the hospital.
I know an older gentleman, super heavy smoker who was to the point he was driving to his own mailbox, he was in that poor of health. I turned him on to the electronic cigs and he’s doing WAY better now. Not saying they’re a cure all but anything that gets them off the horrid horrid smoking.
Sure hope you get some good news soon.
Not good news, I’m afraid. He went to the ER, was told he has congestive heart failure, so they gave him some lasix to draw off the fluid.
He said he felt better and once again went home, even though they wanted to keep him.
I’m done. I can’t support or try to help someone who doesn’t want help or take responsibility for himself.
D’s still “in the game”, though. I guess it’s the mothering instinct. :shrug:
I’m not asking for it, but if the mods feel it’s okay, it’s fine that this thread be closed.
Thanks
Q
I totally forgot to address the e cigarette suggestion upthread, sorry!
Yes, I’ve heard of those things and if he ever comes to his senses I will mention those to him. I guess they can also be used in airplanes, right?
It’s too bad they weren’t around in 95. That’s when my Mom, herself a chain smoker died after I took her with me on a trip home to Germany.
Before we left, I begged her to get a patch, but she refused, saying she could make it, but I knew she couldn’t. When we got to Hartsfield, she headed straight for that smoking room they have, and she smoked until time for the flight, which was 9 hours. 9 hours without nicotine and she barely drank any water. Consequently when we arrived, she was severely dehydrated and sick, but still insisted she’d be okay. She was sick the whole time over there, but wouldn’t admit it.
Then came the trip home - a longer flight. This time she neither ate nor drank anything to the point where the flight attendants were begging her and looking at me as if to say “can’t you do something???” (I’d been trying ever since we took off to drink from the bottle of water I bought her. No go.).
We touched down in Atlanta and I took her straight to what was then Parkway Hospital’s ER. They fast-tracked her, started fluids and sent her to ICU right away, but by then it was too late and she died a week later.
Ever since then, I’ve thought about that trip and wish I could have done more, even to the point of forcing her to wear the patch (she would have removed it, because by that time she was already in stage 6 of Alzheimer’s - we thought she was just “pre-senile dementia” as her doctor diagnosed) or forced water down her.
I also wish I’d never invited her on the trip, but it was during the time I worked for USair and we both flew free.
It’s been tough to live with.
Q
Quasi, there is nothing that you could have done differently. Old folks in general (not even taking Alzheimer’s into account) are just going to do what they’re going to do! (Ask me how I know this and what it might have to do with getting my two 82 year old grandparents to wear a coat when it’s cold outside when we’re on the way to church!!) 
First, a “THANKS!!!” to Bloodless Turnip for the e-cigs idea. We got him a kit and he’s using it!
Secondly, he’s back in congestive heart failure. He had a scheduled appointment with a cardiologist today and he got admitted to Tanner Medical Center. He has only one sister and us, so his “brother” (our son, Jason) and she will be taking turns staying with him at night, so he doesn’t walk out.
If any of you would like to cheer him up and boost his confidence, please pm me for the direct room number. He knows about y’all from the calls D got from her recent hospitalization.
I hate to say it, but it was the e-cigs which helped make up his mind to stay this time.
Again, we all appreciate your concern for our friend!
Bill
Cardiac cath scheduled for Friday. He needs it ASAP, but his cardiologist tells us his body isn’t strong enough for any kind of invasive procedure. His ejection fraction is 20% which means his ventricles are not pumping enough blood.
We’re hoping that with meds and a change of lifestyle (the smoking) we can raise that figure.
IANAD, so what I write here is open to interpretation and correction.
Thanks
Q