Some Never Survive Being Young

Twenty-two year old Kayley Boda is dying.

Like too many young people, Boda started vaping at a young age, she was 15 and had experimented with smoking. Vaping is supposed to be a safe alternative to smoking. The peer pressure and slick advertising campaigns convince young people that it is the trendy, sophisticated thing to do.

Generations ago, the same peer pressure and slick advertising convinced young people that smoking was harmless. Every guy wanted to be the Marlboro Man on his horse, young women flocked to Virginia Slims because “you’ve come a long way baby”, and many looked for those cigarettes that were “a silly millimeter longer”. The results were mouth, throat, lung and other cancers that killed too many while they were still young.

So it is with Boda and she is paying a terrible price.

In a very recent interview, Boda not only admitted starting vaping at just 15, but engaged in “heavy vaping” on a “regular basis”.

There were early warning signs regarding health issues.

Boda was about 20 when she developed a rash over most of her body. With health care professionals not sure what was causing the rash, she was treated for shingles, chicken pox, and scabies.

A few months later, Boda began coughing up dark brown mucus with “grainy bits” in it. Doctors diagnosed scars from pneumonia or other infection. This was followed by coughing up bright red blood. An X-ray of her chest revealed a darkened area on her right lung. Stage 1 lung cancer that was later upgraded to Stage 3.

Lung cancer in those under 25 is “extremely rare” according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information but she had it and underwent surgery to remove part of that lung followed by chemotherapy.

“I had a terrible reaction to it (chemo),” Boda related. “I couldn’t lift my head up. I was throwing up blood. I was urinating blood. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep.”

In early February this year, Boda was pronounced cancer free. Then, in a cruel twist just weeks later, Boda was told the cancer had returned in the pleural lining of her lungs. That is a thin, two-layered membrane that lines the lungs and chest cavity. She has been given just 18 months to live.

BECAUSE vapes and vaping is still relatively new, there are no long-term studies on the health impacts. But the American Cancer Society notes that vaping produces an aerosol that contains tiny particles of chemicals known to be harmful, causing serious health problems such as cancer. ACS also reports that vapes, or e-cigarettes, contain nicotine – also found in cigarettes – which is an extremely addictive substance.

While we have to stop short of blaming vaping on Boda’s cancer, she does not and is using her remaining time to urge others to stop vaping.

 “My symptoms started a few months after I started disposable vapes, and there’s no lung cancer in my family,” she said. “I haven’t vaped for three months, I’ve made my partner stop, I’ve made my mom stop, I’m urging all my friends to stop. Stay off the vapes,” she continued, “because they will catch up with you.”  

AT some point, all of us were young and dumb. We drove too fast, took unnecessary risks, and did things we should not have done to look cool or more mature. Somehow we managed to survive. But there were always those that did not.

I have never met Kayley Boba, only seeing photos of her as a young teen and then in a hospital bed, dying of cancer.

Being told at 22, that you are unlikely to live to 24 is horrible.

Perhaps her tragic story just might encourage teens and young adults to stop vaping.

Let us hope so.

That’s my opinion.

Andy Kober can be reached at andykober@hotmail.com