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Bong Lung…..near death experience

Discussion in 'Marijuana Consumption Q&A' started by Crick74, Mar 17, 2024.

  1. Hey….I am new to this forum and would love to share a story w you and get some advice from others if you don’t mind. I am in my forties now but started smoking pot when I was around 18. I will never forget the first time I got stoned. It lasted hours and it was like finding the one true love I had been searching for my entire life. All was well in the world now. I went from smoking a bowl with some buddies to being the guy who knew ‘the guy’ to get hooked up and I would go buy it for my friends and I. Where I lived, it wasn’t always easy to find and this was back in 1993 so things were A LOT different. Anyway, I really just fell in love with getting stoned. It was kind of an escape for me and I am a very creative person so I loved getting stoned by myself and letting my imagination go places it had never been. I had been drinking with friends for years but what I loved about weed was that I could be stoned in seconds, have fun for awhile, and then didn’t feel like total shit later. But for me this turned into more of a lifestyle. I was never without a big bag of weed and I was getting high several times throughout the day. Everywhere I went and everything I did was an occasion to smoke a bowl, and it never disappointed…..everything was an adventure. This went on for a few years and I was having a good ole time. I had also tripped on LSD several times and life was grand until I got ahold of some bad LSD that was in town. A few of my buddies and I tripped and this acid brought me to my knees. After that, my life wasn’t the same. I don’t know what happened exactly, but it was like this trip never ended in some ways. For a few months, I was blessed with seeing tracers everywhere I went and my paranoia was out the roof. I couldn’t leave the house wout having severe panic attacks, and by severe I mean being somewhere and having to call my Mom to come pick me up bc the earth was spinning around me and I couldn’t physically or mentally make it back home. It was a problem and it led me to seeing several doctors and having a bunch of tests done bc I really thought something was wrong w me. I know now that this was all from the intense LSD trip having such a dramatic impact on my life that I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I would never be normal again. And this caused severe paranoia which led to a constant state of ‘panic’. Unfortunately, the cure I ended up finding was if I numbed myself w enough alcohol, I didn’t feel the panic very much, so my life as an alcoholic began, which would lead to years of horrible choices unfortunately. And after a few months, I had the courage to start smoking again and I picked up right where I left off except this time I was also heavily intoxicated. But smoking pot was always my true love. Ten years passed and alot happened in that time. I got married to the second love of my life and lucky for me…..we saw eye to eye when it came to weed. I introduced her to the world of cannabis and she fell in love w it too, maybe not quite as much as me, but she enjoyed it. When I was around 30, we were on vacation in Panama City Beach and I woke up one morning, took a hit to get my day started, lit a cigarette, and BAM…..it hit me like a truck coming at me full speed…..I suddenly felt VERY short of breath. At first I thought I was having a panic attack so I laid down next to my wife who was still asleep in bed. But the discomfort was suffocating me…..something wasn’t right. I turned over on my side trying to wake up my wife and I remember feeling like I had bubbles in my chest area. I could even hear the bubbles. I woke my wife up and this all escalated VERY QUICKLY. In just a brief minute or two, I was struggling to breathe and literally fighting for my life. She took me to the car to go to a hospital. We had no idea where one was, we just started driving. I remember telling her to tell my parents how much I love them if I didn’t make it. In my mind, I was dying. This was fucking intense….getting even a slight breath was nearly impossible and I was trying to stay calm but it was difficult. I can’t begin to describe the feeling of not being able to get a breath of air…..it’s not something you EVER want to experience. Finally, we lucked out and came upon the Gulf Coast Hospital. She walked me inside and within seconds I was on an operating table staring up at a surgeon and a male nurse who was holding me down. The surgeon pointed to a screen above me and said ‘do you see your heart? It should be on the other side of your chest. Your right lung is 100% collapsed and the air is cutting off the circulation to your heart.’ And I also remember, as he was explaining the reason this was happening, him pretending to take a huge deep hit from an imaginary bong, and he said that over time doing this all of the time, can cause collapsed lungs, especially in males who are tall and slim. He then told me I was about to feel the most painful thing I had ever felt in my life and it was going to feel very awkward with an intense amount of pressure but to not worry. He was holding a tube in his hands and told me if I had arrived a minute later I would have been dead. As he was about to stick the tube in the side of my chest, I vividly remember grasping onto the male nurse’s arms that were distinctly very large and extremely hairy but that was oddly kind of comforting…..don’t ask me why. He was holding me down. The surgeon wasn’t kidding….it felt like a tree was impaling the side of my chest…..but after the insanely uncomfortable procedure came a feeling of intense relief……I could breathe again. This was unfortunately only the beginning of my hospital stay. They were hoping that 48 hours in the hospital on oxygen would be sufficient to inflate my lung back up but it didn’t work. They ended up doing a more detailed CT scan which showed large blebs on my lungs, which are patches of air that can burst and fill your chest w air….I think that’s right. But they said this was caused by intense pot smoking for years and also cigarettes didn’t help…..both contributed, but especially the breathing pot deep into my lungs and holding it in. They ended up having to operate on my lungs , scrubbing my lungs to get rid of the blebs. We were there for 12 agonizing days. They told me to stop smoking and I would probably be okay. And for the most part, I actually did quit anything that required me to inhale smoke. This changed my life in major ways and it was probably for the best bc I also quit smoking cigarettes which is a great thing, but I miss the herb immensely. I am an artist, a painter, and I do this full time. Nothing has ever been able to push me as an artist like smoking good weed did. I would love to be able to enjoy that again in my life. My question is…..is there another way to get stoned that’s similar to smoking that won’t be hard on my lungs ……what would be the best way for someone like myself to enjoy cannabis flower? I know there are edibles but this takes much of the enjoyment out of it for me. I am old school. There’s just something about opening up a bag of beautiful buds that smell so good and packing a bowl that I just love. Edibles aren’t the same. I would love to hear some thoughts on how I could maybe do this and be kind to my lungs…..is there a way? Thank you so much! Peace
     
  2. My buddy collapsed his lung twice with the bong… didn’t quit smoking but moved over to just a little bubbler or pipe. Was OK since. Not medical advice but I think something about the ripping of a big bong was a contributor and doing something with more of a sipping motion didn’t trigger that same condition
     
    • Like Like x 1
  3. Maybe a little hand held Vape. Stops you smoking and still gets you high by inhalation.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • Winner Winner x 1
  4. Crazy I didn’t know that was possible!!! How massive Of a bong was it?
    those pens are strong although I never could get one didn’t know where or how. And can’t afford it right now.
     

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