COPD + Why #MakeTimeforDad to Get Checked

I never cry in public because I don’t want people to see me during my weakest moment. But at the COPD Awareness event I could not help but bawl infront of everyone when the event host Patty Laurel-Fillart ask us to write a message for our fathers at a time capsule.

Before having us write, Epy Quizon, son of the late king of Filipino comedy — Dolphy shared his story about how his father, whom he always knew as someone who has a happy disposition in life and has a strong personality and alaways incharge, was taken down by COPD . Epi told us how COPD has turned a “man of power” , “the commander-in-chief”, into a helpless weak dependent person which is a complete opposite of the father he knew.

“Our dad was a fighter, he was our general, our commander-in-chief, so watching him get waker and trying hard just to catch his breath was very difficult for us. The saffest part of it is seeing how your loved one deteriorates and their is nothing you can do,” Epy said.

Epy said Dolphy was diagnosed with emphysema when he was 45 years old, and turned cold turkey since then, the doctors found out how dark his lungs were. Dolphy was a chain smoker who started smoking since he was a teen. He was diagnosed with COPD at the age of 79 and by 80 he was carrying the oxygen concentrator everywhere he went. COPD took Dolphy’s life quicker than they had anticipated.

I can so relate to the pain Epy felt at those trying moments , we had the similar story. My father died of emphysema, he was a chain smoker, we never knew how bad his lung condition was, and what caused my father’s death, until I have had the autopsy done to him. We never knew he had his lungs real bad. The coroner told me that both of his lungs were black already from nicotine, the other one had collapsed and the othe one errupted and leaked which caused his death. That was a very graphic description he can tell me. I felt horrible after.

We never knew. My father never wanted us, never wanted me , to take him to the hospital. He never wants to be a burden to any of us, he was afraid of hospital bills. He is always a strong but kind man. I can’t force my father, I was the youngest of sibs, I grew up afraid of my father. My father was bedridden for months, I took care of him, I fed him, and did everything for him. I saw my father suffering. It was painful to see it all. During his last day, I went out so I can find a doctor who does home service so he can check on my dad. I was still on the road when I got a call from our neighbor who said my Papa is gone. I sobbed inside the public transport terminal. I felt horrible. I was not with my father during his last moments. I could imagine how my sister felt, she had to fly back to Manila from Dubai.I never understood what COPD was until this event. I know emphysema but not COPD.

COPD is an acronym not everyone can relate to, but if you tell them it is an illness that cripples breathing, or in short a lungs disease, then people have an idea of what you are talking about.

COPD is short for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It is a progressive lung ailment that makes breathing difficult and invariably leads to death. It is the 7th killer disease in the Philippines. There are 17.3 million adult smokers in the Philippines, unfortunately only 2% get diagnosed! Up to 90% of COPD cases are caused by smoking, pollution and second hand smoke shares the 10% of the pie according to World Health Organization.

How can you tell if your chain smoker father’s, brothers, or sons has COPD. You can never can tell unless you get them checked. One symptom that they may have it is if they complain of shortness of breathe and always coughing.

Spirometry is a simple breathing test that gauges how much and how quickly air moves out of the lungs. It measures the lung function in patients and determines the progression of the diseases.

The #MakeTimeforDad is a campaign spearheaded by GlaxoSmithKline and the Philippine College of CHest Physicians (PCCP) which encourages family members to upload a 30 second video on Facebook stating a list of things they want to do or wish they could have done with their fathers. This would serve as a reminder forthem to act now if they feel that their loved ones are at risk for COPD and value each moment they spend with them.

 

That was what made me cry. I never was that super close to my father, I grew up afraid of him, he was the strictest father , that’s why I kinda turned a little rebelious and stubborn.

Father’s are the focus of this campaign as father’s are stubborn when it comes to their health, they always think they brush of small sickness off, until it gets worst.

#MakeTimeForDad encourages people to be more sensitive to the condition of father’s who smoke as they are more prone to develop COPD.

After that emotional moment rekindling our dads, I went to Epy and asked for a picture with him but I requested for him to sit down in the picture. Everyone laughed. They knew the joke. Do you? Haha!

Me: Epy papicture naman tayo. Pero kung pwede upo ka.
Epy: Ikaw ha, dapat may bayad ‘to (sabay upo at tawa konti). May kulang walang tela. (laughter)

Another funny incident, my blogger girlfriends Ruth, Lou and Erica were all wearing the same color scheme #OOTDs that day so yeah we had to take a picture together!

For more information on COPD, visit pinoycopd.com.

#MakeTimeforDad make kulit your dads for a check up so you won’t regret the things you wish you could have done or could have said before they’re gone.

Stay gorgeous everyone!