Discussion»Questions»Human Behavior» You know smoking can kill you but you like to smoke so you do. Is your life that worthless that you would gamble with it? Why?
I expirimented with inhaling smoke when I was 14 and i been hooked on nicotine for nearly 57 years now. Tried to quit many times but don't seem to have the willpower and determination to stay quit like some people I know have. Was diagnosed with 1st stage lung cancer a year ago (tumor was removed by surgery)but even then that did not scare me into quitting totally even using patches and nicotine gum to help. Since 'I can't quit' though I practice a good diet and exercise to help prevent recurrence. I do a follow up CT scan every 6 months to check. Statistics indicate my chance of survival after 5 years is about 45%. My doc told me she thinks I have about 75% chance. So that's fine.
Condolences Kg. Seriously. I'm glad you are doing the CT scan thing yearly and that you are under constant doctor care. When I was 10 years old we were visiting my grandparents in Michigan at their summer cabin by a lake. It had a basement. My uncle left his pack of cigarettes on the kitchen table and I took one out, got some matches and went down to the darkened basement to enjoy/experience my first smoke. I had read that if you swallow the smoke it will come out through your nostrils. For some reason at that time I thought it looked so cool.. So I lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply, swallowed the smoke and waited for nirvana! What I got instead was a terribly painful burning sensation and I felt very nauseated. It was a horribly miserable experience. I was cured forever more of wanting to smoke. I don't know if all first-timers have that experience but if they do I think they must be masochists who push through the disgusting physical experience just so they can look real cool and smoke. That is my experience and my view. Thank you for sharing yours. Happy Tuesday Election Day 2016 to thee Kg.
Read the question again. I am saying that those who smoke believe their LIVES are worthless MrWitch. Not that the price of the smokes aren't exorbitant. You usually get my point immediately. Are you a smoker perchance? Is that why you missed the point? Thank you for your reply and Happy Monday1
What smoker would ask such a question TAW? Of course I don't smoke. What put me off about your answer is that I am very serious about the subject of people willingly and knowingly playing around with the Russian Roulette of smoking. One bullet in the barrel. You keep turning the barrel and shooting yourself. One day you will kill yourself. I wanted you to be serious. Apologies for scolding you. I did not take it as a joke with any smiley face anywhere to be found. I took it as you being a smarta**. You should know by now after all these years of our chatting my default mode is serious. My brother-in-law committed suicide due to his smoking. He got lung cancer. Got a voice box. He kept smoking. The cancer spread to his bones so he had to have steel rods put in his legs so he could walk. He kept smoking. At some point the pain was so bad that no amount of drugs could mitigate the pain. He was in agony 24/7. My sister-in-law woke up one morning and found him lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood, gun by his side. To add frosting to this cake she got emphysema from living with him in the smoke-filled environment for so many years. She died a few years ago of COPD. She was on oxygen 24/7 the last year of her life. He not only killed himself he killed her too. So you see TAW I have personal experience with a smoker. Up close and personal. I do not find anything humorous about the subject. Thank you for reply and Happy Election Day Tuesday 2016.
Rosie, many people pick up that habit when they are still young and reckless and it's one of the hardest ones to let go of. I managed to quit for good, but not without many set backs.
Go easy on the smokers Rosie. They are some of the nicest people you would ever meet.
Besides, you wouldn't believe how many other vises one could have.
Please read my reply to TAW PeaPod. Then get back to me and tell me about how smokers are some of the nicest people I'd ever want to meet. My brother-in-law killed his wife due to the secondhand smoke she lived with for years. He committed suicide. Yes. Please read what I've experienced and then let's continue this conversation about how nice they are. Thank you for your reply and Happy Election Day Tuesday 2016.
This post was edited by RosieG at November 8, 2016 2:54 AM MST
I was a smoker until last December 31st, 2015. I had 2 hospitalizations because I had a severe asthma exacerbation. I was on a CPAP machine the first time. Although I enjoyed smoking it took me over 20 years to quit. It was my only vise. But I did it. I was diagnosed with COPD and didn't want to end up on oxygen 24/7. I know how hard it is to quit, but I know I'm glad I did it
This post was edited by SA (SuperA) at November 8, 2016 6:40 AM MST
I am so glad you could quit too, but I do not judge. Most of us can't feel the affects of it until it's too late.
I look at people that can't stop eating or can't stop drinking and I don't think I have a right to think I am better than them. I have had my own vises in life. It is part of being human.
I've worked with addictions of all kinds, as you know. I never thought it would be so hard to stop. A person will quit in their own time, as with other addictions. I know how hard it is, so I try to encourage by just my own experience.
It's the ONLY thing that works when trying to help anyone. Shaming never works. Never. My husband never smoked, but he never made any comment when I would sneak a puff or two here and there (I have never been a heavy smoker...more like a social one with some friends). Being around him made me want to quit for good. And I did with no regrets. I'm lucky. I hope others can quit too.
My sister-in-law died of COPD due to her husband's smoking and all the years she lived in that environment. She was on oxygen 24/7 the last year of her life. My brother-in-law committed suicide due to the pain of cancer. Please read my response to TAW SA. I am very happy you quit. If you have COPD how is it you are not on oxygen? My sister's husband Terry smoked for years and now has COPD and is on oxygen 24/7. They both smoked heavily but when he was 50 they both quit. He is now 78. So I hope your COPD is a much milder version. It is a very bad way to live out one's life. Congratulations. It would have better had you never started smoking but as they say better late than never when it comes to quitting. Thank you for your reply SA and Happy Election Day Tuesday 2016! :)
Thank you Rosie. My COPD was caught at an early stage. I AM on 3 different meds to keep it under control. I was on oxygen while in the hospital and for the first month I was home. Have a great day Rosie!
This post was edited by SA (SuperA) at November 8, 2016 9:52 AM MST
You're welcome SA. Thank you. That's wonderful. So meds can control it for you then? My brother-in-law is also on meds but I think his is too advanced so that's why he also needs the oxygen. You know I'm not sure if this is true or not but I read that Johnny Carson had COPD and refused to be on oxygen because he didn't want to live that way. So he died. If true that really shocked me. I know quality of life is important but I see people out and about all the time with those portable oxygen tanks. They're not tanks exactly. They look a bit more like large square purses. I don't know how much they weigh but they appear to be relatively comfy. What kind did you have m'dear?.
I had 2 different oxygen tanks. One was plugged in to my home on a machine so I could refill the tank and use it anywhere in the house. I also had a smaller one, like you are talking about. I took that one to my doctor visits.
Benedict Arnold 