Cannula (pronounced can-U-lah): clear, plastic tubing worn around the head and across the face that feeds supplemental oxygen directly into the nostrils either from oxygen tanks or an oxygen concentrator. Cannulas are typically used by patients with severe lung deficiencies. They are NOT a cure for anything; their sole purpose it to make life somewhat easier for those afflicted with various lung diseases and to keep them alive a little bit longer than they might otherwise be expected to live.

Just about everyone is aware of the connection between lung cancer and smoking. Studies have shown that as many as 1 in 4 people who smoke 5 or more cigarettes per day will eventually develop lung cancer. As bad as those statistics are, there’s yet another lung disease caused by smoking that many people are not as aware of. It’s called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD for short.

COPD is a progressive lung disease that, as time goes by, makes it harder and harder for people to breathe. You may have heard COPD called other names, like emphysema or chronic bronchitis. In people who have COPD, the airways—tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs—become partly blocked, which makes it more difficult to get air in and out. Smoking is the most common cause of COPD, often occurring in people age 40 and over with a history of smoking. Research indicates that anywhere from 25% to as high as 50% of current and former smokers will develop COPD. Sadly, they also account for up to 9 out of 10 COPD-related deaths. Although there is no known cure for the disease , it is possible to slow its progression by quitting smoking. Some studies even indicate that lung function can improve by as much as 30% within 9 months of having stopped smoking.

There are various methods used in an attempt to alleviate some of the symptoms of COPD, including supplemental oxygen and medicinal inhalers. Those whose COPD has progressed to the point that they require supplemental oxygen must wear what is known as a cannula (pronounced can-U-lah) – clear plastic tubing that feeds oxygen directly into the nostrils either from oxygen tanks or an oxygen concentrator.

The next time you’re at your local VA Medical Center, make a mental note of your fellow veterans and their loved ones who are wearing cannulas – keeping in mind that smoking probably played a major role in their need for supplemental oxygen using cannulas so that they can live a little more comfortably and survive a little bit longer.

For a better idea of what it’s like to live with COPD, check out the videos below:

Today marks my second year anniversary of quitting smoking. It was on September 29th, 2010 at 9:25AM that I finally crushed out my last cigarette, ending an addiction that I had been struggling with for more than 40 years.

Not everyone is on the same quitting schedule – some are ready to quit long before others. I actually knew it was my time to quit for several years. I just didn’t know how to do it, nor did I have the right tools to go about it. Check out the clues below telling you that it’s time for you to quit, then get in touch with your local VA Medical Center to find out what they can do to help. Mind you, any one of these clues alone is reason enough to quit:

you need to stop and catch your breath sooner and more frequently than you did just a year or two ago.
you find yourself clearing your throat and/or coughing more often than the non-smokers you come into contact with.
someone mentions that the inside of your car (or your clothes or your house) smells of smoke.
you find yourself staying away from those places where you feel uneasy because smoking is forbidden, such as movie theaters, restaurants, night clubs, etc.
you start using credit cards to buy cigarettes because you never have enough cash to keep up with the ever-increasing number of cigarettes you smoke each day.
you notice that children you come into contact with begin to mimic your smoking, either by pretending with props or by using real cigarettes.
you make excuses for not going on vacation because it’s too difficult to find affordable, decent hotels that have smoking rooms available.
you avoid visiting relatives and other loved ones because they don’t allow smoking in their homes.
your mustache and/or beard shows unsightly orange stains from constantly exhaling smoke and nicotine.
you keep burning holes in some of your favorite clothing, furniture, and/or car upholstery.
you visit Internet dating sites knowing that you must restrict yourself only to contacting the small number of members who are smokers, or who claim to be sympathetic toward smokers, because none of the non-smokers are willing to meet up with smokers.
more and more you find yourself limiting the places you visit, the people you socialize with, and the activities you participate in due to new restrictions that continue to be placed on where and when people can legally smoke.

Can you think of more clues that it might be time for you to quit? If so, leave a reply and I’ll add it to the list!

“Betcha can’t eat just one!” I remember when that now-famous potato chip slogan first appeared in television commercials back in the 1960’s. The implication was that their chips are so tasty, they’re addictive: once we start eating them we simply won’t be able stop.

It may have been a snack food company that originally came up with this marketing concept, but it’s the tobacco companies that have been banking on it all along. They know how addictive their products are and are fully aware that we “can’t smoke just one.” I learned this lesson quite well the very first time I tried to quit smoking.

I was 18 years old and had been smoking for about three years. I kept telling myself that I wasn’t like everyone else and would never allow myself to get hooked on cigarettes. To prove it, I decided to quit at that time and was successful for about six months. Then, I made the mistake that all too many of us make: I decided to smoke “just one” to remind myself of what it was like to be a smoker. BIG MISTAKE! All it took was that one cigarette and I went back to buying them by the pack.

More than 40 years later, it’s now been nearly two years since I quit smoking once and for all. This time I know how dangerous it would be for me to “smoke just one.” Whether I’ve been quit for six weeks, six months, or six years, I can never allow myself to take even one puff of a cigarette because I know the consequences all too well. If forced to make a choice, pass me the chips!