From Everyday Habit to Emergency Room
In August 2024, everything changed.
LeeRay began experiencing severe pain in his left side. It wasn’t just discomfort — it was sharp, intense, and impossible to ignore. His family rushed him to the hospital, where doctors quickly discovered the cause.
He had suffered a pneumothorax — a condition where air leaks into the space between the lung and chest wall, causing the lung to collapse.
Doctors treated the collapse, but the nightmare wasn’t over. Over the next few months, his left lung collapsed four more times.
Each time meant more hospital visits, more pain, and more fear.
Multiple Surgeries to Save His Lung
To try to stop the repeated collapses, surgeons performed a procedure called a pleurodesis. This is designed to create a strong adhesion between the lung and the chest wall, helping prevent air or fluid from building up in the space around the lung.
But in LeeRay’s case, it didn’t work.
Doctors then had to escalate to a more invasive surgery — a pleurectomy, where part of the lining of the chest wall is removed.
Even that wasn’t the end. During surgery, they identified a badly damaged piece of lung tissue and removed it entirely.
What they took out was later shown to the family: a black, shriveled chunk of lung, sealed in a clear plastic packet — a visual consequence of years of heavy vaping.
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