ok. once upon a time when i was 18, my allergies finally showed up, thanks to the hayman fire out here in colorado. since then, i have been having progressively worse problems with smoke. and not just cigarette smoke, but all kinds. grill fires (which my dad frequently has), woodburning fires, even burning oil in smoke machines and the little aromatherapy thingies. whatever. i started on a regimen of two allergy medications, so that when i had to put out a grill fire, i could without coughing up a lung and my sinuses sealing themselves tighter than gladware. no problem.
well, my last month abroad, after moderate suffering with every european out there smoking, my "friend" came out to visit me. needles to say, we were sleeping in the same room the whole time, mostly my dorm room. said friend has a nicotine addiction, which i made absolutely clear COULD NOT, under any circumstance, be indulged anywhere near me, or my room, and she was not allowed to smell like it, because the smell makes me want to hurl.
unfortunately, smoking also seems to be closely linked to lying. oh no, she said, i only smoke one every other day or so.
THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE FOUR CIGARETTES YOU HAD EVERY FUCKING DAY WE WERE IN PARIS??? every day period, the stupid cow. she made the rest of that trip miserable, but unfortunately, that's going to be a chapter or six in my memoir. she also reasoned that since i take medication, i shouldn't havea problem with her smoking. she has also told me taht i don't actually have this allergy, and that i just don't like the smell.
anywho, i came back home and went to the doctor, because i had been sick the last week with a nasty cough, and it was still around. my doctor, who has been listening rather closely to my lungs for the past year or so, expressed that something had happened. she knew that europeans smoked, but asked if there had been anything in particular that could have caused a problem. 'why yes!' said i.
well. long story short. now it seems that instead of smoke-induced allergies, there's a strong probability that i have smoked-induced asthma, which she has been worried about for the past year, and that one month of stress and smoke finally pushed me over the edge. she's giving me 6 months, but if i still have a wheeze (which i do), i get to have an asthma test of some kind to just solidify what the doctor feels she knows.
excuse me for being pissed, but i was born healthy and with good, strong lungs, and now, thanks to careless "friend," i don't anymore. i know, i can't blame just her, but let's face it. no european spent a month solid blowing smoke in my face.
so if you smoke, and one of your friends says they're allergic, learn from this. we don't make it up for shits and giggles. thank god coloradois going smoke-free in public places july 1. at least some people in the government realize that killing oneself with cancer shouldn't mean killing others with it too.
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4 comments:
That's why I tell all my smoker friends here that out of everyone, I will be the one to get lung cancer.
If she knew you at all, you wouldn't even have had to tell her not to smoke within a ten mile radius of you.
I totally understand...I don't have an allergy, but the mere smell of cigarette smoke often brings on headaches and nausea. I have to put up with it because I'm not going to give up my social life that often involves bars, clubs, casinos, and bowling alleys. But it really sucks that I should even have to make that decision. A smoker's right to destroy his own lungs should never infringe on my right to breathe clean air in a public place.
I'm thrilled that Colorado is stepping up, but where's the nationwide effort? I hope I live to see the day a federal law is passed on this...that is, if the secondhand smoke doesn't get me first.
i heart the rector girls. and i agree with you, andrea, it should absolutely be federal. but it's so much better here than europe, that's the sad thing.
and meggy... well, this is the bratwurst girl, after all. we knew she had no cares for what other people think anyway. she's always #1 priority, and tried to make it that way on the vacation, which really made the stress go thru the roof. yowch.
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