because it took me SO long to realize how bad smoking cigaretts are bad for my health. I have smoked for 13 years now at 1 1/2 pack a day(2 on my worst days). Here was the "wake up" calls that I got:

1. In May of this year, they( the doctors) found that I have cysts and lesions on BOTH my kidneys(more then 3 on each) and my right kidney is bigger then the other. I am going for ANOTHER MRI this month to see if they spread or not.

2. In January 2008 in our state, they are banning use of smoking cigaretts in ALL business. We cant smoke 15 feet from the door or WE(the employees) get fined.

3. My daughters sake. I want her to have her mother as she grows up to have a life of her own. ( maybe this should be #1 on list).

4. I had pneumonia in BOTH lungs in September of 2006(not long ago, I know!).


I KNOW its my fault and have noone to blame BUT ME!I called my doctor and asked for a presciption to help me stop( the appointment is this coming Wed.). He along with others have been on me to quit.

I just got to a point in my life that said" I CANT DO THIS ANYMORE!"

I have tried the patches( they DONT work, and they left bad irrations on the patch site), the gum didnt work for me either, and tried it "cold turkey" SOOOOO didnt work either.

Sorry to ramble and bore any of you, but I had to get this off my chest.

( OK Im now ready for the bricks to be thrown, and will be standing here proud to take my punishment!)

best wishes for a fast cease of

thanks for posting this. i nearly bought a pack today and started again. i hope you can quit.

Mach said:

Thanks! I think Ill be loading up on the sugar free candy. (this way I dont balloon up like the Goodyear blimp )

evenstar3 said:

Your welcome! Heck of way to wake a person up.

Hey let me borrow that hammer for a few weeks, I might need it lol.

No bricks from me...just Quitting smoking is a hard thing to do. I wish you all the best in your quest to do so.

MoniGram said:

Im hoping this Chantix medicine will do the trick.

Anyone know or that knows people that have done it worked?

try everything until you find what works! good luck to you, you know you will be doing absolutely the right thing.

ZombieKitten said:

Thanks!

no bricks! i hope the kidney stuff gets sorted. thankfully i think they can remove the growths without too much consequence if they have to.


but your lungs are a whole different matter! we take breathing for granted.
but just watch someone with emphysema struggle for breath
and i am sure it will reinforce your will to quit this damn thing!

and keep your daughter as inspiration

I'm with the crowd on this one.....no bricks, just lots of and ...

I feel your pain.....though I haven't had any physical side effects yet, I know that its just a matter of time if I don't completely quit....I have been doing well here (in spite of all the stressors that SHOULD have me smoking like a chimney)...down to one cig a day, if at all....but I know that I'm one incident away from smoking full bore....in order to kill the urge, I work out....and I also leave my pack wherever I'm not...like I'll leave them in my sleeping quarters when I'm at work....or if I have them with, I leave them at the office when I go back to my room...you have to find what works best for you....medication, odd-ball quitting strategies...whatever it may be, just stick to it....and if you slip, don't treat it like a major failure....just pick yourself up and brush yourself off....and keep on keeping on.....

I wish you all the best.....

Dear Toots.

I am feeling for you. It must be hard to face up to all of this, but you are, which is one of the best starting points of beating the habit.

Indeed, smoking is a killer habit. And your point three is a very valid point; I lost my mom this way. I still miss her every day.

Just yesterday I was on the train with my brother and sister, who both smoke and I could not help but think how bad they look; smoking just sucks the life right outa you; makes your face look hagard, makes your skin real bad.

And you, like no other now know the effects it has on your organs.

Like I said before; knowing what it is doing and what it stops you from doing is a great way to keep going when you feel down.

Good luck!

HamsterHuey said:

yeah, everyone thinks my sister is much older than me (she smokes) and people think my mum's sister is her mother

Also, I have been to hospital wards alot with cancer patients. If you only knew how many old peeps came up to me, sometimes with breathing tanks trailing behind them, telling me that they wished they never smoked.

My neighbor looks like that crazy dog lady in "something about Mary" she is not a day over 45 but looks like hell in a handbasket! She is a chainsmoker, and loves to sunbathe. Not a good combo!
Best wishes for you to keep strong!

PaisleyPark5083 said:

i go to school with a girl who smokes quite a bit and she looks haggard! it's freakishly amazing. she's tried to quit but it's pretty tough.

good luck to you.

toots said:

I cannot throw bricks at you I like you!
I did not know you smoked though...lol




We all have bad habits. The first step is realising you have a problem. If you need any support or someone to vent to.....orgnote me.

But only because you asked.


Now

The good thing is that you're gonna stop smoking. Stay positive because your body will really benefit from the positive thoughts/energy.

Good luck!

No bricks, just love and prayers!

Good luck!

HamsterHuey said:

Absolutely. If anyone thinks smoking is OK, just volunteer at a cancer ward for a little while and see what smoking does.

Thank you for what you're doing.

I would like to thank all of you for your responces. back to all of you!

I dont know if its a fact or myth about 1 cigarette taking a day off your life. Im starting to believe it! When I look back and figured it up in my head (a good estimation) I should of been dead already!

It hits you like a ton of bricks when faced. I CANT WAIT to start my "non-smoking" days. Im actually excited about it and so is my daughter. She was SOOOOO happy when I told her I set a date(even with the prescription). You should of seen her she started crying she was so happy.

Like I was saying before, Im starting a stock of sugar free candy, sugar free gum and the like(so this way I wont blow up like the Goodyear blimp). Stocking up on the crossword puzzles so my hands can keep busy(the basic backup stuff).

If ANYONE thinks it is OK to smoke, it IS NOT! I was a CNA for awhile, I choose a different career later after my daughter was born. And KNEW what it(smoking) does to the body, young and stupid I was for even starting this bad habit!

When I go to the doctor Wednesday for my appointment I will check back here on this thread and keep everyone informed on what my progress is(if that is ok with everyone,hopefully I wont bore you with my jibberish at times lol). This prescription is supposed to make this bad habit not "fun" for me and take all the "fun" out of smoking and lighting up. I hope it works!

Your daughter will thank u. Never give up!

Maybe if someone threw a brick at me every time I lit up I could quit...

toots said:

no bricks from me either. I too am a smoker, and it's not something that I am proud of at all. I know it is a nasty habit in more ways than one. My children have ask me numerous times to quit, and I have tried, I've tried cutting back, changing "strenghts", been hypnotized, and still I haven't quit. There is a new medicine that I have read about Chantix I think it's called, and I am seriously thinking about asking my doctor about it I am battling pneumonia as we speak and I know a portion of it is my own fault for putting my lungs through hell. I only hope and pray I can kick the habit before it kicks me. My thoughts, prayers and well wishes are with you. If you ever need to talk, fuss, get anything off your chest, orgnote me..

hisfan4ever said:

Thanks! Chantix is the medicine Im being put on to quit this nasty habit! Just think positive!

The pneumonia bit took 3 different medications and being on a nebulizer to knock it out of me.

I have tried everything I could think of as well to quit, but none of them worked.

Edited cause I was off to work.
[Edited 8/5/07 5:40am]

I'm sorry but one brick won't do it. If you lived in a hut in the wilderness for the past 30 years and was an illiterate then maybe, but it's just stupidity now - what did you think, that the entire medical field was a part of some huge conspiracy?

Teacher said:

Very compassionate of you.

CarrieMpls said:

No, and I don't see the use for compassion here - smoking is a choice to begin with, nobody makes you smoke. I don't smoke in part because all of my four grandparents died of lung cancer, because they smoked. Back then (the 50's) it wasn't known that it was THAT bad for you but now everybody does. So people who smoke don't deserve my compassion - somebody who didn't smoke a day of their life and still got lung cancer, THEY got my compassion.

Teacher said:

I guess I don't understand the need to kick someone when they're looking for help and encouragement.

CarrieMpls said:

And I don't see the need to pussyfoot around. Different strokes you know