For those of you that smoke cigarettes

[djosbun 0]

For those of you that smoke cigarettes- stop. As we speak, i'm watching my father whither away to nothing because of cancer caused by his life-long smoking. Nowadays everyone knows that it's bad for you, but watching someone die right in front of your eyes is shocking. To make matters worse, my 4 year old son will soon lose his only grandfather (my wife's father died many years ago). My father's cancer is spreading so fast i'd be shocked if he was here 2 months from now.

You might not give a crap now, but you will in the future.

I don't like to preach, but I guess I am. Please stop smoking. Do it for yourself and for those that you will touch in the future.

Dave

[Vapor 0]

In a world where just about anything can kill you I have always chosen to take the lifstyle of vita viva (live life). Why sweat the small stuff, and do whatever the hell you want. But when it is something as avoidable as this, you should be able ot make the correct decisions. My (agnostic) prayers go out to you and your famiglia.

[BK 0]

My mother smokes.. a lot.

She knows its going to kill her, but she has a very ignorant attitude about it.

Just like any problem, you probably wont care until it IS a problem.

I don't drink or smoke.

[kovalchuk71 212]

For those of you that smoke cigarettes- stop. As we speak, i'm watching my father whither away to nothing because of cancer caused by his life-long smoking. Nowadays everyone knows that it's bad for you, but watching someone die right in front of your eyes is shocking. To make matters worse, my 4 year old son will soon lose his only grandfather (my wife's father died many years ago). My father's cancer is spreading so fast i'd be shocked if he was here 2 months from now.

You might not give a crap now, but you will in the future.

I don't like to preach, but I guess I am. Please stop smoking. Do it for yourself and for those that you will touch in the future.

Dave

Dave, I feel your pain, my grandfather passed about 2 months ago because of smoking. I will NEVER smoke because I as well had to see my only grandfather pass away.

[AnthonyJTa 0]

My deepest apologies. I also watched my Grandfather suffer with severe emphysema. It's not the easiest thing to watch at all. And on top of that, my fiancee has a terminal lung disease. At this point, I pride myself on never smoking anything (cigs, drugs, anything).. I'm still trying to get my mom to quit after 29 years of smoking.

Again though, I'm really sorry.

[Thockey17 1]

I only suck on one or two cancer sticks when i drink, which is relatively often. Its a bad habbit, but could be a whole lot worse.

Sorry to hear about you're father, though.

[mack 44]

Another story of suck is my boss just got diagnosed with cancer in both his lungs and it's spread to his lymph nodes. Mid-30s, never smoked a day in his life. Got it from second-hand smoke because his father was a chimney.

[hockeysew 0]

As a smoker myself I must say that it is one of the hardest habits in your life to change.

You have to really want to quit and although I have never been through it they say it is like any other addiction-you dont just quit but you battle it everyday for the rest of your life.

I did quit for 5 years and then went to the bar and that was it-started all over again.

I know people that have been smoke free for 15 years and they still fight the urge.

Although I havent quit completley I have gone from a pack a day to around 5 or 6 a day.

Better than quit is to never start.

The thing I have noticed most is wheen I get a cold it lasts so much longer and this last year had bronchitis that turned into pnuemonia.

It really sucked.

Lets not even mention the money spent @ $4.00 US a Pack x 30 days = $120 x 12 = $1440 per year. Now double that because the Mrs. smokes = $2880.00

That right there would put us to holiday in Mexico each year for a week.

I am going to sound like a hippocrate here and ask that you do stop-

If you are thinking of trying it-Dont.

[Fury of One 6]

It is one of the hardest addictions to stop. I have a friend that's really close to me that I would love to see quit smoking. I've told her many times but you can tell someone 'til you're blue in the face and the only way they'll quit is if they want to. I've also lost a cousin to lung cancer and it's just a horrible habit. Nagging someone to death doesn't help them either. Best thing to do is remind them how much you love them and just be there for them and hopefully one day they'll realize what it can do to themselves and the people around them.

[Jason Harris 31]

Better than quit is to never start.

I ask my daughters all the time, "What's the best way to quit smoking?"..."To never start." I just hope they continue to think that way once they reach the age of peer pressure.

My wife lost her mother to lung cancer five years ago. She had been a half-a-pack-a-day smoker, and she had stopped for about five years, but the cancer still appeared. It created tumors on her lungs and brain, of which the latter changed her mental capacity as well as personality. She lasted nearly five years, which apparently is a long time for that type of cancer, and allowed our daughters to know their grandmother. However, by the end, she was a husk of a human -- literally. She slept about 22 hours a day and needed help with EVERYTHING. She could grunt in response to Yes or No questions.

The only redeeming fact is my wife uses her mother as an example to our daughters.

Some of you have expressed you know people who haven't had the strength to quit. I used to think that way, until word leaked out that the tobacco companies were lacing their cigarettes with addictive chemicals. I believe it was extra nicotine. It's why the easiest way to quit it to never start, since the product was (maybe still is) designed to create true addictions, not just bad habits.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

My fathers 15th anniversary was Feb 28th this year, I was 14 when he died.

Again, smoker, lung cancer. He was 46 when he died.

Was Diagnosed on Friday the 13th of september, 1991, died just 5 months later on 2/28/92.

At home (Ireland) smoking was much more accepted then, and almost every young person, boy or girl smoked where I grew up (northwest).

I only gave up 4 years ago. I tried several times, but it was the kind of trying where I was quitting because I thought I should, not because I wanted to.

Then after I proposed to my wife, I realized that I didn't want to be the husband that died at 46 either, because I saw first hand how it affected my mother and us kids. So I decided to quit. I basically said when we move to our new place, I will quit. So I didn't cut down or wear patches or anything,

I kept smoking like I normally did for the couple of months leading up to the move.

Then, after we got all our crap moved in, I went out to the balcony at about 10 at night, had a beer, and my last cigarette in the pack, and have not had one since.

So, unless you really really want to quit, its not worth even trying, you will only be annoyed all the time, and annoy everyone around you (this is how I was when I tried before), but once you actually want to quit, it's not that bad, I didn't need patches or whatever.

I did have to quit drinking for a month too, because that is where I done the bulk of my smoking, but I can go into bars now with smokers and it doesn't bother me at all

Sorry for what you are going through Dave, it really sucks donkey balls, I've been there, and there is nothing I can really say to make things better, but hang in there

[CCC8190 0]

allsmoke, your situation sounds very familiar. My father was in the same boat as you. He was a smoker, and started relatively young (16?). He smoked up until he met my mom, and decided to quit before having children. Hopefully the reprocussions have not affected him all that much, as he is 55 and still running his automobile shop. So to make a long story short, im happy he quit, because i wouldnt want to be in your situation when you were a kid.

to Dave, sorry to hear the horrible news. Im not sure how similar these situations are, but i may be able to relate to you being that my grandmother is wilting away to nothing from alzsymers (sp). It seems that the lung cancer is much faster, but hearing my grandma forget the name of the aide that comes to her house everyday, among other things, is pretty sad. either way, i hope you get your message to some people on the board, and im once again sorry for your situation.