O/T: Still Smoke?

[Lew Hodgett]

Just received the following from my daughter about her uncle, (My Ex BIL).

Born in 1945, a heavy smoker all his life, looks like the big "C" finally got him.

If you still smoke, might want to think about it.

It's never TOO LATE to quit.

Nothing to enjoy about this one.

Lew

--------------------------------------

Hope you enjoy the weekend and Happy Father's day. > I have some bad news that I thought you might want to know about. > Uncle D was just diagnosed with Stage IV small cell lung cancer. > It's already spread to his liver, adrenal gland, lymph nodes and > brain. > Hard to believe! > He wasn't even feeling really sick. > Just thought he had a sinus infection. > They gave him 6 weeks without treatment and a year or more with

treatment.

He's starting brain radiation next week. > Apparently chemo doesn't work on the brain. Who knew? > After 3 weeks of radiation, he'll have a week off and then start > chemo. > The good news is small cell cancer responds very well to treatment. > The bad news is that small cell cancer usually returns. > We'll have to wait and see and pray. > So, who knows about Uncle D. > Maybe the treatments will work and it won't come back. > Anyway, hope you're feeling ok.

[G.W. Ross]

8>< snip

No, I don't smoke. 67 is pretty good mileage for a '45 model and we all have to go some way. After 70 it is all downhill--many of your childhood friends gone. Not sure I want to toddle around in a nursing home waiting to die when I reach the max life span. I'd rather be wasting away in Margaritaville.

[Dave]

On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 08:07:55 -0400, "G.W. Ross"

Really lousy advice. For every one or two who smoke, drink and reach a ripe old age, a dozen who did the same thing die off early with after experiencing really difficult health problems.

[HeyBub]

Likewise, it's never too late to start! As Mark Twain said: "A woman is only a woman, but a cigar? That's a smoke!" (Of course Sigmund Freud said "Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar.")

Now I've had many a do-gooder, like the above, revile me with unsolicited advice. Sometimes they skip the advice and move immediately to Phase II.

(Granny lady whacks me with her umbrella): "You godless communist! You can't smoke here!"

Rejoinder (pick one):

"It's all right, madam, I'm French." "If I quit, what will we use to cover the smell?" "I-Am-A-Grenade and this here cigarette is my pin. You have to ask yourself, 'Do I feel lucky?'. Well, punk, DO you feel lucky?" (The Nixon response) "I believe it is out." "Put out my cigarette? I've been trying for almost an hour! Now, now, don't tell me. I've go to figure this out for myself!"

I have a few more in my repertoire, that I use depending on the occasion.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Are you sure? I though Bill Clinton said that.

[Swingman]

Actually, I think it was Monica ...

[RonB]

Started smoking during the early 1960's when I was about 14. I quit about 15-20 years ago but still wonder how much damage I did to myself.

RonB

[RonB]

[Swingman]

Quit a three pack a day habit of thirty years on November 16, 1991 at 2AM.

I still think smoking was one of the great pleasures of life ... not since have I taken those relaxing "smoke breaks" that broke a hard day's work into manageable chunks.

But we do know that, after that many years, the danger still lies within.

That said, the doctors made my paternal grandfather quit at the age of

93 (unfiltered, roll-your-own, Prince Albert pipe tobacco, smoked like a cigarette since the age of nine).

We would be so lucky ...

[Dave]

Yes, but as most people who have quit smoking know, the noticeable benefits far outweigh the danger that remains.

I quite smoking 33 years ago when I was 25. One day, I just got really tired of the bad taste in my mouth, the sore throat and the nicotine smell on my fingers.

Three months after I quit, I tried a cigarette and it tasted terrible. I've never had the urge to smoke again. People have told me that I wasn't really addicted then, but those ten years of smoking might suggest otherwise. In any event, it was one of the smartest things I've ever done.

[Zz Yzx]

I remember vividly my folks chain smoking. My Mom packed 2 packs of Chesterfields in Dad's lunch pail every day. When we got in the car, the routine went: key in ignition, push the cig lighter in, pull a smoke out of chest pocket, light cig, put car in reverse, and go". EVERY time. And Dad would sit on the can and spit tobacco bits on the opposite wall. The worst came after we got a car with air conditioning and Dad wouldn't let us roll the windows down. I breathed their second hand smoke from the day I was born until left for college at 18. I have reason to believe I'm paying for it now.

Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer the day afer Thanksgiving 1990, and died in January 1991. His dying mantra: "They haven't proven anything". Mom died from smoking-related cancer in 1994.

Funny thing, my 2 sisters and I have NEVER smoked ONE cigarrette (aside from second-hand smoke).

[Doug Miller]

"G.W. Ross" wrote in news:UJGdncsqJJC26kHSnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Pfffft. Tell that to my father, an avid bicyclist.

Dad's going to be 81 in September. He bicycled 70 miles on his 70th birthday, and decided last summer he was going to try for "80 on 80".

He actually managed 83 miles -- with four friends in their 30s accompanying him in 20-mile relays. They were more worn out at the end of the day than he was.

That's what my wife's parents are doing -- just wasting away and waiting to die. But they're doing it in the back bedroom of our house, not in Margaritaville, because their health is ruined. They did not take care of themselves when they were able to (poor diet, and no exercise whatsoever), and as a result, they now are no longer able to. They could easily

*afford* Margaritaville, but they are too infirm to make the trip or to enjoy either the trip or the destination.

Observing the differences between my parents and my wife's parents has certainly rearranged my thinking about investing for retirement: if you don't invest in your *health* while you still have the ability to do so, your financial investments don't mean a damn thing.

[Larry Blanchard]

Having grown up in Kentucky, of course I smoked. Starting at the age of

14 on a dare with an evil black stogie (Marse Wheeling?). Didn't get sick, but switched to cigarettes as they were cheaper - 12 or 14 cents a pack for the cheap brands in 1951. I smoked unfiltered ones for about 20 years and then switched to filtered.

When I was 60 I had a small heart attack and was convinced to quit. But I got my cardiologist to agree that one cigar a month was OK. I did that for 10 years. When I turned 70 I decided I could go to one a week. If I make it to 80 maybe I'll up that - 5 more years to go.

One interesting note. I lived in L.A. for 10 years. When I moved to Boise and went in for a physical, my doctor informed me that I was 40, my body was 30, and my lungs were 80.

Six years later I moved to Virginia. At my next physical my doctor said he hated me - I'd been smoking for 30+ years and my lungs showed no sign of damage.

Ten years of smog followed by six years of mountain air.

Now don't get me wrong. There's no way smoking is good for you. If you don't smoke now, don't start. Unless you're in your 70s - you'll die of something else before the smoking can kill you :-).

For those of you who do, if you can't quit, at least cut down. Way down. If I can go from a carton a week to one cigar a month, so can you. All it takes is motivation.

[RonB]

On Jun 16, 9:36=A0am, RonB wrote: \ This time I didn't do it. According to headings I am credited with changing the title line to "O/T: Still Smoke?"

Didn't do it but this seems to happen now and then.

RonB

[Larry Jaques]

Didn't she say "A sucker is born every minute."?

-- Stain and poly are their own punishment.

[Gramp's shop]

I was a pack and a half puffer from the age of 15. At 61, I was diagnosed with a blocked carotid and quit at 2:45 p.m. EST on 1/4/06. I still miss 'em, but I know if I have one I'll be back to a pack a day within a week.

Here's the good news: The docs say lungs repair themselves over time. Mine should be nice and pink by now, but there's only one way to find out ... and I'm not ready for that.

I'm 66 and outside of some arthritis and diabetes I enjoy very good health. Hoping to retire next spring if the economy doesn't collapse and spend more quality time making sawdust.

[RonB]

That is pretty much the way I quit. I didn't really plan it out but I just stared cutting back. In early days I was at about 2 packs a day and did that until the last couple of years. Then I decided it was too much and started pulling back. Then I reached a point were I was just smoking about 1/2 pack a day. Then days when I didn't smoke at all or maybe one or two. No firm decision point that I was going to quit until I rolled down the window one afternoon and pitched a nearly full pack of smokes out onto the street (Yeah - littering but the best crime you can commit). After that I will admit to falling off a time or two by mooching but I have been "clean" for the past 15 years of so.

Could I really enjoy a cigarette right now? Oh hell yes! But I won't. But knowing I have quit after years of smoking, and knowing I would still enjoy a good drag, should be a lesson to those thinking of starting and believing they can stop at any time.

RonB

[Roy]

Ron, I quit about 14 years ago after 25 years. I had a heart attack about 4 years ago. My cardiologist told me I would not have survived it if I had not quit smoking when I did. One doctor told me many years ago that the lungs begin healing as soon as you quit.

Whether you fully recover depends on a lot of things such as how young you started, how heavy you smoke and how long you had the habit. So maybe we're carrying some damage around with us now, but it is a lot less than if we still smoked, and I believe it gets a little bit better each day.

Congrats, and best wishes for 30 more healthy years.

Roy

[CW]

Likewise, it's never too late to start! As Mark Twain said: "A woman is only a woman, but a cigar? That's a smoke!" (Of course Sigmund Freud said "Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar.")

Now I've had many a do-gooder, like the above, revile me with unsolicited advice. Sometimes they skip the advice and move immediately to Phase II.

(Granny lady whacks me with her umbrella): "You godless communist! You can't smoke here!"

Rejoinder (pick one):

"It's all right, madam, I'm French." "If I quit, what will we use to cover the smell?" "I-Am-A-Grenade and this here cigarette is my pin. You have to ask yourself, 'Do I feel lucky?'. Well, punk, DO you feel lucky?" (The Nixon response) "I believe it is out." "Put out my cigarette? I've been trying for almost an hour! Now, now, don't tell me. I've go to figure this out for myself!"

I have a few more in my repertoire, that I use depending on the occasion. ========================================================================= My wife has a shirt that says "Thank you for holding your breath while I smoke".

[CW]

On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 08:07:55 -0400, "G.W. Ross"

Really lousy advice. For every one or two who smoke, drink and reach a ripe old age, a dozen who did the same thing die off early with after experiencing really difficult health problems. ================================================================== Who forced them to do it.