Replies to post #441694 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[newmedman]

ooh damn. They found spots in my lungs when I was getting scanned for something else.

I was really scared and I had to put down the cigs too... It was not easy at all.

on the bright side I have a friend who had stents put in, he says he feels like a twelve year old and recommended it to all of us.

[fuagf]

I have virtually stopped. Maybe three cigarettes in the last year, had the urge and had one three times months apart. No worry at all about starting again. I stopped when my breathing all of a sudden got worse, two three? years ago. Started by not not taking any cigs out with me so only smoked at home. No more though. And no desire at all to. You have to stop and you can. If i did anyone can. And, though your problem may not be as much a nuisance as my breathing was at the time, you too have a damn good reason for quitting. Gotta find what works for you. Cold turkey didn't work for me. I had to cut back and more over a period of time. Then stopped. Good luck with it. .

[zab]

If I remember correctly, we have had some differing views in the past, and that is fine, but I wanted to just say that I have had a couple stents put in myself. When they put the stent in my groin area, I think it was that large artery that control the blood to my legs and feet.

Before that was done, I had to take hot showers before bed to warm myself up, especially my feet that were always so very cold. I also remember the numbness I would deal with when I would walk anywhere, it got so bad that I could hardly drive my car most days. Then they put the first stent, from the moment I woke up from that procedure I could feel the difference in my legs. I might not have been able to run like the wind, but I could walk much easier. My feet were also not as cold as they once were.

My second stent involved my heart, I had flunked my treadmill stress test badly, I just about passed out on the tread mill. The procedure was done the next day. I had an 80% blockage in my part of my heart, and a 60% blockage in another part. They treated the 80 % blockage with a stent, and the other with a pill I take each day. I have other issues, but these two stents improved my life greatly. One stent is about nine years, and the other about five years.

Lastly my lung cancer really took a toll upon me, I was a smoker for almost 30 years, Marlboro, and then Marlboro Lights, and I basically quit cold turkey. But the choice was easy, I had to learn how to breathe again after the operation. They removed my upper lobe, and as each month, and now each year passes my lungs have basically cleaned themselves. The good Lord gave us these bodies, and when you stop smoking, your lungs begin to get better. They will never be perfect enough to run a Marathon, but the pictures of them as the years go by will show you how well they look compared to when you smoked.

Please try your very best to stop smoking, I know it might not be easy, but your health will start improving each day, maybe not as fast as a stent, but you will see the difference as the weeks and months go by. You will also smell better, and your clothes will smell better, and those cigarette stains in your fingers will start to go away.

I stopped smoking when cigarettes were about $ 5.00 a pack, I hear they cost more, you will have extra money for some very good food, reward yourself, you deserve good food.

Good luck.