The Unexpected Diagnosis
Spirometry showed moderate COPD. I sat across from the doctor and laughed through tears: "This doesn't make sense. I don't smoke. I never have."
The doctor, patient and kind, explained to me something nobody had ever told me before: passive smoking, especially chronic and close like what I experienced for 40 years, causes almost the same damage as active smoking. I breathed in every one of Neon's cigarettes too.
She also explained that there are other causes of COPD not related to smoking — industrial exposure, wood burning, cooking gas, and even genetic factors. But in my case — the story was clear.
"All my life I thought COPD was a smoker's disease. And I never smoked a single cigarette in my life. Only when the doctor explained to me about the years I lived with my smoking husband in a three-room apartment — I understood that I too was smoking, just without the cigarette in my hand."
Understanding I'm Not Alone
In the first weeks after the diagnosis I felt ashamed, and I know that sounds strange. Like it was something I did to myself. I'm a nurse — how did I not see this?
And then I discovered through the Linshom Association that I have sisters. Women who didn't smoke, who got this disease not because of their lifestyle — but because of who lived with them, or the shop they worked in, or the environment they grew up in. Suddenly I wasn't alone.
In the Association's WhatsApp group I learn something new every day. A woman from Bnei Brak whose children smoke in the adjacent apartment. A woman from a kibbutz who worked in a cotton factory for 30 years. An Arab man from Nazareth whose mother cooked over an open fire for 50 years. Each has their own story.
My Life Today
I take inhalers twice a day. I've added tai chi classes twice a week — it helps me breathe, maintain fitness, and keep my mind clear. I participate in the national insurance program's pulmonary rehabilitation program.
I'm still working — half-time, as a volunteer in the children's unit at the hospital. The children don't know that Aunt Ruti sometimes gets short of breath. For them I'm just 'Aunt Ruti who knows how to read books'.
My children, who grew up in Neon's house, get lung function tests once a year. Because they were also exposed. My oldest son, Ilan, discovered mild COPD at age 45. He never smoked.
My Message
COPD is not just a smoker's disease. If you're short of breath, cough in the morning, or feel your fitness is declining — get checked. Even if you never smoked.
And to families of smokers — don't be afraid to speak up. Smoking in the house hurts everyone around you. It's not just 'smell' or 'aesthetics'. It's a direct path to lung damage.
And to every woman diagnosed with COPD without ever smoking a day — you are not alone. Our community is full of us. Contact the Linshom Association, join the WhatsApp. Feel that there is someone who understands.
"I can't go back and change the smoking years. But I can meet women who went through the same thing — and that makes all the difference."
— Ruti Lev
