A mother recalls a challenging discussion she had with a physician following her adolescent daughter’s “popcorn lung” illness.
Brianne Cullen, Christie Martin’s daughter, called her in a panic, saying she was having trouble breathing.
Christie was horrified and hurried the 17-year-old to a local emergency room, where she received oxygen, X-rays, and medicines before being diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, also referred to as “popcorn lung.”
An accumulation of scar tissue in the lungs obstructs airflow, causing this rare kind of lung illness.
Christie had no idea that at the age of 14, Brianne had begun vaping covertly.
Recounting the day her daughter started to feel sick, Christie, from Henderson, Nevada, US, said, “[Brianne] went to cheer sick, she had a cough and a sore throat. She was lifting up these kids, tumbling, it’s all very straining.”
“She called me all of a sudden and said she can’t catch her breath.”
“I couldn’t understand her, she kept saying ‘I can’t breathe’, it was the scariest thing.”
The mother continued by attributing Brianne’s survival to the sport.
“Cheer saved her life because the exertion that you put out during cheer practice on top of being sick, she couldn’t breathe,” Christie stated.
“The doctor came in and said, we need to have a very serious conversation,” the mom went on to recall of their hospital dash.
“I didn’t expect the news she gave me, that it was popcorn lungs that’s permanent and children are dying from it. […] We still don’t know if there will be long term effects.”
Doctors at St. Rose Dominican Hospital gave Brianne an inhaler to help her breathe after she smoked a $25 vape every month for three years.
Christie said, “We don’t know the status of her lungs now, I was an absolute mess at the ER that night.”
“They told me she should be able to make a full recovery because we caught it so early, but it can also cause problems like cancer in the future. I thought I failed as a mother.”
“Smoking takes years to show its effect and your lungs can heal from it, but popcorn lung is irreversible.”
“It took a deadly diagnosis for her to stop,” the worried mother added.
Christie is now calling on other parents to unite in their efforts to prevent youth access to e-cigarettes and vapes.
“We need to work together to take these things off the market,” she said.
“This is meant to be a cautionary tale to not let your kids vape no matter what. I hope to God they ban them, it’s worse than smoking.”