Quote:
Originally posted by SleazeQueen
I quit cold turkey too. For me it just took thinking about what I was doing to my body and what it was potentially going to cost me to keep smoking.
My boyfriend at the time had discovered a sore spot on his tongue while we were on vacation. In November of 1990 he was told it was cancer. In December he had a quarter sized piece of his tongue removed and spoke with a slur for the rest of his life. After radiation, all foods for him tasted like foil for the rest of his life.
In August 1991, he had a lump in his neck. More cancer. Had all his lymph glands removed, his jugular removed and that whole muscle on the side of his neck. Had chemo and more radiation.
In November of 1992 he started to have a cough that wouldn't go away. One night he started coughing blood. Cancer. Later that month he was basically cut in half and his lung removed.
For the next year he was unable to climb the hill from our mailbox because he'd get winded. He could no longer surf or windsurf. He couldn't hike or bike. He was miserable.
In July of 1993 he was having some back pain. We were driving home from a doctor's appointment and he shifted in the seat in the car. We both heard a loud crack sound like when you crack your knucles. He was in a lot of pain and we headed back to the hospital to find out he'd fractured his pelvis and that his pelvis was riddled with cancer.
By September of 1993 he was hallucinating and not sure what was going on most of the time as the cancer had made it's way into his brain. In October 1993, 2 days before my birthday he was rushed to the hospital where he spent the next 4 days. He died late on a Saturday night with me, his mother and his oldest son in the room.
He was 41 years old. He left 14 and 12 year old sons behind to grow up without a dad. He left his 26 year old girlfriend alone and with no money and a pile of bills from treatments.
No cigarette was worth that loss. For me it's easy to stay smoke-free just thinking about dying and leaving my family and friends behind. I'd think that looking at your children and thinking about them watching you waste away and die before your time would make it easy to quit. Cigarettes aren't worth it.
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oh my sorry about your loss even if it was years ago, I know the feeling I lost my mother to pancreotic cancer in 1995, she was 76 years old and had smoked since she was 9. I am not 100% sure that smoking causes all cancers but I do know its nasty and full of terrible chemcials that can kill you over time.
If you want something to help you to dcide to quit peeps here is enouygh to do it:
http://www.whitelies.tv
It's a website created by our state, Indiana along with tv commercials to keep kids from smoking.