On Monday night, while I was in the recreation yard, I had such severe shortness of breath along with sharp pains in my chest and along both of my shoulders as well, that I had to stop walking...
I had to lean against a wall as I gasped for air. It was scary! Even several inmates stopped to ask if I was okay. I spent most of my allotted 90 minutes outdoors just leaning on a building.
I think I may be developing chronic asthma because of a long-term exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke. Besides, there are more smokers in the cell block now as men leave, and new ones arrive. A non-smoker, it so happens, gets replaced by a smoker, thus increasing the amount of noxious fumes which hover in the air.
So I think I'll make it my business to speak with a prison official here to find out why two of the three overhead exhaust ventilators that are built into the ceiling of my housing unit have been inoperable for more than a year. As is often the case in the prison system, some things stay broken for a long time. But even with three fully functioning ventilators, they may not be enough to eliminate all the smoke. Obviously, being locked up is hazardous to one's health.
D.B.
I think I may be developing chronic asthma because of a long-term exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke. Besides, there are more smokers in the cell block now as men leave, and new ones arrive. A non-smoker, it so happens, gets replaced by a smoker, thus increasing the amount of noxious fumes which hover in the air.
So I think I'll make it my business to speak with a prison official here to find out why two of the three overhead exhaust ventilators that are built into the ceiling of my housing unit have been inoperable for more than a year. As is often the case in the prison system, some things stay broken for a long time. But even with three fully functioning ventilators, they may not be enough to eliminate all the smoke. Obviously, being locked up is hazardous to one's health.
D.B.
