The Usual Place Podcast

The ex-vaper who had to ‘wash’ his lungs multiple times: Here’s what he wants you to know

Tune in to find out why a vaping habit left this ex-vaper fighting to breathe.

Natasha Ann Zachariah

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Many people switch from smoking to vaping for different reasons.

For Mr Muhammad Dandiar Rosli, he saw vaping as a cheaper alternative to smoking, so he decided to give it a try.

But it nearly cost him his life. Just a month after he started vaping in 2020,

he ended up in hospital after feeling breathless

and coughing up thick, yellow phlegm.

He thought he had contracted Covid-19, but a bronchoscopy revealed that he had pulmonary alveolar proteinosis – a rare lung disease where the air sacs are clogged with protein and fatty material, making breathing difficult.

That marked the start of a long recovery that included two hospital stays and four procedures to “wash out” his lungs. What he underwent is called a lung lavage, where sterile saline is used to wash away the abnormal build-up of protein from the lungs.

Five years on, the memory of the treatment – and the hefty medical bill – still affects him today.

Mr Dandiar, a private-hire driver, drops by The Usual Place podcast to talk about undergoing the lung lavage procedures and the difficulty of quitting vaping.

Highlights (click/tap above):

3:45 The failed attempt to save money by vaping

10:45 “It was too painful, I had to shutdown,” Dandiar on being hospitalised with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.

12:06 The process of lung washing

17:44 Restarting to vape after his first hospitalisation

27:31 Why quitting is so difficult

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