Excuse me while I vomit after looking at this old ad:

One of the most difficult deaths to watch is that of COPD (emphysema). What am I saying?! No death is enjoyable-geesh…but those patients of mine that have died the death of COPD have had such torment at some time or another, no matter what I may try to ease their symptoms. It reminds me of someone drowning. It truly does. As if I am standing by and watching someone in the deep-end coming up and gasping for a teeny breath of air and then going under and then coming up again for one lil’ gasp of air, all the while I am just standing there watching. At least that is the way it feels. I. Hate. It. Needless to say I urge patients to quit smoking any chance I get.

I had the table below from ten years ago when I first started practicing and had forgotten about it. Last week a patient decided to quit and she told me that she was excited to save the money from the cigarettes. She is going to put it in a jar and see how it adds up. Being out of the “cigarette cost” loop I asked her how much a pack was after tax and she told me she buys the “el-cheapos” and they are still $5.60! WOWSER, I say.

I went and dug out my old table and decided to update it with the current price of cigarettes today. Now, I am told that fancy schmancy cigarettes are a lot more than $5.60 per pack but who am I to say. People, this is a huge chunk of change. Not to mention that the cheapest inhaler on the market (EVEN GENERIC) that I can prescribe to someone with COPD is $109.00 at Walmart. So so expensive. So so addictive. So so tough to stop. What to do, what to do…for now, these tables are on bright yellow paper taped up on the cabinets in my exam rooms and I have a jar of molasses with broken up cigarette pieces in that is supposed to represent the tar you put in your lungs each year when you smoke on my desk that people always pick up and take a gander at but otherwise…