Do You Smoke?

[Karen]

Originally posted by finn's mom
I worry so much about this with my dad. He's over sixty and has been smoking since he was about 13. He gets a physical and is told all the time that he's healthy, his lungs look great etc. But, I worry about things like pancreatic cancer. Is that something that can be predicted at all? Or is just fine one day and gone the next? What an awful thing...

In Bob's case, the only "symptom" he had was that he was losing weight. But as he was TRYING to lose weight and dieting at the time, he thought he was doing really well.

Bob didn't live to see the birth of his twin grandbabies this spring, his daughter pursuing her Master's degree, or many other milestones. It still makes me angry and sad all at once when I think about it.

[elizabethann]

No, I don't smoke. However, I work with a 70 year old lady who smokes like a chimney and she's alive & kicking! You just never know.

My teacher told me a stroy of his brother. When his brother started smoking at age 14, their parents found out, and their dad made him eat one cigarette. This guy was a 4 pack a day smoker, and eating one made him stop for good!

Yuck! I think I'd quick smoking after eating a cigarette too. What a good idea those parents had.

Smoking is such an addictive habit. I know so many people who have tried to quit but were unsuccessful. Only a few have been able to quit for good.

But we all have our vices I guess....mines junk food.

Good luck & best wishes to all who are trying to quit smoking and congratulations who have kicked the habit!

[ChrisH]

I quit on July 20th (Bobby's birthday so I would remember the date. ) in the year 2000 afer smoking for 37 years. And yes, smoking has left it's mark, I have COPD. (Chronic Obstructive Pulmony(?s) Disease.)

[Suki Wingy]

I am allergic to smoke. My dad did for ages but finnally managed to switch to the gum. My mom does, she thinks it's a secret.

[Sus]

Originally posted by jesse_3


I wish the best of luck to everyone here. Maybe, you can all do it together, start a thread about it, and use PT'ers for encouragement!?!

.... but who'll start the thread? I am a smoker myself, and I hate it - but it is soooo difficult to quit. I tend to worry a lot about things, and smoking seems to help when you are nervous? What does one do to calm down when you can't get a cigarette anymore...???!!

I've actually enlisted on a Public Health Service "Quit Smoking" course, starting next monday, August 15th - and I'm already biting my nails about it! I don't feel all that motivated, to be honest. And that's really strange - because I most certainly should be!! Last winter I had bronchitis twice, and I never used to develop a cough in addition to catching a cold. I also had some asthma-like symptoms between the colds. So I feel that I simply HAVE to quit.

Anyway, I for one am sure that I could do with a little support from a "Quit Smoking - Now!" - thread....

Oh, and besides, Bella hates my smoking too!! I'm convinced that's why she prefers to sleep in my bedroom (smoke-free!) most of the time...

Lots of love
Sus and Bella

[neko1]

Never tried it. Smoking killed my grandmother way too soon. It also killed all of my co-worker's aunts and uncles.

I never had the urge to try and never will. I hate the smell, especially the stale cancer-stick smell on people's breath. I have nothing good to say about it, so I'll stop here.

[kuhio98]

No ~ Thank God ~ I'm not a smoker. I am soooo glad I never picked up the habit. My father smoked like a chimney and sometimes I'd run along behind him and take a few puffs of his discarded butts. Well, my sister ratted me out and I got a spanking. So, that cured me. But, guess what? My sister smokes 2 packs a day! I have watched her struggle to quit for many years now. It's like every cell in her body craves it. Her skin stinks, her hair stinks, her whole house stinks. She's in her early 40's and already wheezes when she talks. She has recently lost 60 pounds but she still can't quit smoking. She was recently diagnosed with diabetes and has managed to change her diet so drastically, that she may not have to take medicine anymore but she still can't stop smoking.

I refuse to buy them for her. I used to do her grocery shopping because she hates it and I was home during the day. I told her not to even bother putting cigarettes down on the list, because I wasn't buying them.

I have the worlds wimpiest lungs. I get bronchitis several times a year. I figure I'd be dead already if I had ever started smoking. I am going to be one PISSED OFF girl if I get lung cancer from second hand smoke.

[Killearn Kitties]

Originally posted by Sus
I've actually enlisted on a Public Health Service "Quit Smoking" course, starting next monday, August 15th - and I'm already biting my nails about it! I don't feel all that motivated, to be honest. And that's really strange - because I most certainly should be!!

My mum gave up smoking a couple of years ago after smoking for 43 years and she did not feel motivated to do it either. She enrolled herself on a course at the doctors and just stopped. I was stunned! She had never shown the remotest desire to stop smoking in all the time I had know her (which is a while! )

She still puts the money away that she would have spent on cigarettes and buys herself things when it builds up.

[carole]

I started smoking at 16 and continued until I was 23, and I was a chain smoker, I wished I had never smoked but for me having a baby my son, was the answer, I have never smoked since,It has been almost 25 years now, and I did it cold turkey, he was too important to me to even think about doing that to my precious baby, sadly my son has become a smoker, although never raised around it, he smoked because of his peers just as I did, he is asthmatic as well, and my deepest wish in the world is for him to quit, I worry constantly about his health.

[GoldenRetrLuver]

No, I think smoking is disgusting. I can't stand to be around it, just the smell of it makes me sick. I do have friends who smoke, and even though I do not agree with it at all, I don't look down on them or think they're less of a person than I am.

I took a Health class last year, and for part of the class we had a drug unit. They showed us this website (http://www.thetruth.com/index.cfm?seek=truth) and I found it very interesting, I learned a few things.

Best of luck to those of you who want to quit. I'm with you all the way.

[Lexi_Lover]

I'm not a smoker. And don't plan to be, I came in 2nd for this anti-smoking awarness thign at school. They say 90% of kids who grow up in a smoking family will smoke too. I've overcome this by researching A LOT abotu smoking.

I'm in a full household of smoking...my dad, sister, mom & grandfather. My aunt, uncle and most family friends do as well. I am trying to stay away, and now, the doctor is saying I don't have the cleanest lungs as I used to...they just don't see what they're doign to me!

My mom keeps saying she is going to quit on April 1st, since she was a fool to smoke...but its been 3 consecutive years...and she hasn't even tried to quit...*sigh*

Any hints on how to help THEM quit? My sister is also 23, and I'd like to stop her NOW before she does any more damage to herself. My grandfather sleeps below me in the house and he smokes continusley...I smell it all the time! BLECH!

[carole]

The thing is until you quit smoking yourself, you do not notice the offensive smell, as your senses are not as good in that department,and you just get used to it, I HATE the smell also, my son will smoke outside and come in and just fills the house with that awful smell, I am forever telling him to go outside as I just find it so disgusting.

I just wanted to add lexi_lover, unfortunately there is not much you can do to make them quit, they have to want it bad enough for themselves, we have offered to pay for treatment to help my son quit, but I guess he is just not ready yet, it does not help that nearly all his friends smoke and when he went to England it was even worse, nearly everyone on the cricket team were smokers.

I think it is really bad and selfish and irresponsible to smoke inside and around your children, they are passive smoking, and they have no choice, a lot of smoker's I used to know always smoked outside their house and never around the children, to me that is the only fair thing to do, They don't have a voice or a choice when they are young.

[DJFyrewolf36]

I agree Carole. My house is a smoke zone, only because my roomate smokes so much so there isn't any point in it being "smoke free" I won't smoke around children though, and I'll even go outside to smoke if children are in my home (my friends bring their kids over all the time). I also think its rude to just light up in someones car without asking, even if they do smoke.

I try to be very conciencious (sp?) about my cruddy habit lol.

[kuhio98]

Originally posted by Lexi_Lover
Any hints on how to help THEM quit? My sister is also 23, and I'd like to stop her NOW before she does any more damage to herself. My grandfather sleeps below me in the house and he smokes continusley...I smell it all the time! BLECH!

When we were in our 20's a friend of mine stopped smoking after a few comments from friends. Nothing we said about heart disease, cancer, the smell, the cost worked. Nothing. But, then a series of things happened. We met some new people who didn't know that she smoked. When we were introduced, they asked her how much older she was than me. See, they thought she was my mother but they thought she looked like a young mother so they thought she had had me as a teenager. Well, that blew her away because I was 6 months older than her. Someone commented that she had lines around her mouth and eyes from smoking so she looked a lot older than she was. Then a few days later, we met some cute guys. We were getting along great and excused ourselves to the ladies room to talk about them. We got back in time to overhear one of them say, "Are you interested in the girl with the yellow smoker's teeth?"

She wouldn't quit for health reasons, but she did quit for vanity. When you're that young, dying from cancer seems like soooo far away. But, looking old and ugly before your time seems to make more of an impact. Think it could work for your sister?

[abbersmom]

I do not smoke, but I grew up in a house full of smoke...I never even knew how bad I must have smelled until after I got married & would go home to visit!

My father-in-law was a smoker, we lost him to lung cancer...7 weeks from the day of diagnosis to the day her died...MY hubby insisted he'd never smoke again...he has never even tried to stop...

My Mom has struggled the past year & 3 months...since May 17th 2004 to be exact, when she had a massive stroke due to her smoking....we were so sure we would lose her...and then they told us she would never walk again, but she DID...altho she must use a walker! The one thing she NEVER has done again is smoke...yet the 1st time I took her to the Dr after she was back home, he accused her of smoking. He could smell it on her because her house smelled so bad. My Dad continues to smoke, even after what has happened to Mom & it scares her, not only for what could happen to him, but because he does it in the house & she can't just get up & leave, she has no choice in the matter, she is disabled & has to just sit there & smell it...

Oh...I could go on & on....