Lung help line

Do you ever have questions AFTER you  leave your doctor's office? Or on the weekend, and you just want to ask a few questions?

Your doctor should be your first go to person. I can usually leave a message with my doctor's nurse and she will call me back with the answer to my question.

But maybe you doctor doesn't have a great bedside manner or you want to talk to someone else? 

Enter American Lung Association's Lung HelpLine. It's a free resource that is staffed by Registered Nurses and Registered Respiratory Therapists who can answer questions about "lungs, lung disease and lung health, as well as helping people quit tobacco."

What is their background?

".....rehabilitation, education, acute care, emergency medicine, public health, neonatal care, home care and adult intensive care. Some staff members are addiction counselors who crossed over from drug and alcohol treatment programs to tobacco cessation, and we have staff who are bilingual (Spanish), allowing us to help even more people. Our translation service helps with more than 200 different languages as well."

You can call them at:

1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872)

or 

Submit a question  

The staff will research your question and answer back via email.

or

chat online

(I actually tried the "chat online" and couldn't get the page to load, but maybe my computer was just being slow? So good luck if you can get that option to work!)

Of course your doctor should be your first option, since she/he is treating you. But if you want to talk to someone else, this might be worth a try!