Living With COPD: Would I Be That Brave?

The oxygen device used by the person attending this performance was most likely an oxygen-conserving device, which provides oxygen only when the person inhales, thus the "puff" sound. The reason people use conservers is that with this system the oxygen does not flow constantly, but intermittently, so the oxygen supply lasts longer. Keep in mind that for the person using supplemental oxygen he or she must plan ahead for this oxygen supply as well, calculating the length of time needed to get to the vehicle, drive to the venue, park, walk to the theatre or concert hall, enjoy the performance, and then get back home - things that us able-breathers take so much for granted. Until quite recently, the only option for people needing supplemental oxygen was a big, heavy, green tank. The new oxygen systems are better (but not perfect) and allow some degree of freedom.

"Well," we might say, "I know just what they did to get into this situation in the first place. "They smoked, and they did it to themselves. They deserve it."

Hold on a minute here. Do we really know that - for sure? Not all people who now need extra oxygen were smokers - and even if they were, does that somehow make us better than them? Many people who have smoked heavily in the past are still breathing just fine. They lucked out. Others have a predisposition (sometimes genetic) to develop lung problems. Some people who have never touched a cigarette have severe, incurable lung disease with no known cause. Many others have worked hard, supporting their families, earning an honest living by working in hazardous environments such as foundries or mines, shops and factories making furniture, fiberglass, tools, textiles, paper, even candy. Think of the World Trade Center rescue workers. How about soldiers who smoke to stay awake for days on end, then breathe toxic fumes in battle? And let's not forget those (our parents and grandparents) who smoked at a time when the dangers of smoking were unknown then denied, and those who were encouraged by their own doctors, the military - even their parents - to smoke cigarettes. If I had a physical limitation brought on by one of these circumstances, yet wished to participate in the outside world only to be looked down upon by those I met, Would I be that brave?

Why are we often so quick to place blame? Is it because when we see something unsettling, we're quick to explain it away - in a way, of course, that says it could never happen to us. We take the easy way out. We blame others for causing their own circumstances in order to make ourselves feel better - to make ourselves feel safer.

We must be careful to not be so sure we know how people got their lung disease. And we must never be so smug to believe that we've never done anything to compromise our own health. Have we ever had a habit of eating fatty or salty foods? Have we ever spent too much time in the sun? Have we ever been in a moving car without wearing a seatbelt? Any one of these choices might have lead to significant illness, or even death.