Keep on keeping on man. Brought back some scary memories of a well liked co-worker who never seemed to drink water or eat much and never anything green. All he did too was drink coffee constantly and chain smoked. This is decades ago before no smoking at work stuff.
I turned into his little edit bay to find him face down on his keyboard all grey looking, but semi awake and breathing. All he could do is say 911. He collapsed a whole lung and well into pneumonia. He was very skinny and never complained but that day I told him early he looked more tired than normal. He made it out and recovered slowly but quit smoking that summer and cut way down on coffee. He moved to Fla.
Hear, hear for your "trust me when I of choice changes in a minute when your breathing is taken away." You experienced that difficulty breathing much more than i, yet a lesser difficulty made my options so much easier for me too. It's a joy more than most any other to be feeling to breath easier again.