Newly diagnosed former Firefighter
I am a 57 year old man and was diagnosed with COPD/EMPHYSEMA over 2 years ago and since then my breathing has been short and I get out of breath very easy and weak. I am a retired Firefighter of 32 years and that's when I was diagnosed and that caused me to retire. My breathing seems to be getting slowly worse and it has me worried, I have an appointment with a pulminologist in November and I'm worried what they are going to find. I still vape as well as having several other conditions mental and physical. I am noticing that it is effecting other things as wall. I know I need to quit vaping but it's a little hard right now. I don't know if anyone else has been down this road but I'm just wondering how to work with it.
Hi
. Please know that you are not alone. Vaping/smoking is a powerful addiction. Many people struggle with quitting long after getting a COPD diagnosis, but please don't give up. It might take a bunch of tries. It might even take a few years. But it will be worth it. Here is an article about quitting that you might find helpful: https://copd.net/pulmonary-rehab/lifestyle/quitting-smoking. The article focuses on cigarettes, but the approaches are basically the same. I hope you have an pulmonologist who understands and doesn't judge. Please keep us posted, if you don't mind. I will be thinking of you. Hopefully, others will chime in here to share their experiences. - Lori (Team Member) 
Thank you for your service. It’s a brave profession. For me it turned out to be years before I could let go of my demons for good but I did. I won, I conquered. Taking one day at a time, AA professes is the way to go & many others. It’s like building your body. It doesn’t happen overnight.
So I say start small not everything at once. Maybe look into meditation if you don’t already, it helps calm the nerves. Moderation in all things, that’s what they say.
Exercise helps me. It invigorates you after a bit. Some like mj, they feel it opens up their airways, drink a lot of water as we’re living in a sort of toxic world.
