The last smoker in my life has FINALLY decided to quit - now that she's diagnosed as terminal

[$tevie]

davester wrote:
Every friend and relative that I've ever known who smoked regularly has died of lung cancer, some of them quite young (i.e. in their 40s). The luckiest quit in her 40s and then made it to her early 80s before succumbing.

You say this every time the subject of smoking comes up. Basically, you are saying that if you smoke, don't bother to quit. I find it a very discouraging message. BTW, my doctor and the doctor after her both say that the day you quit, your lungs begin to heal and eventually you have no more chance of lung cancer than anybody else. My 94-year-old mother smoked until she was 75. So please stop being the voice of Doom and Gloom saying Don't Bother To Quit.

[mrbigstuff]

$tevie wrote:
[quote=davester]
Every friend and relative that I've ever known who smoked regularly has died of lung cancer, some of them quite young (i.e. in their 40s). The luckiest quit in her 40s and then made it to her early 80s before succumbing.

You say this every time the subject of smoking comes up. Basically, you are saying that if you smoke, don't bother to quit. I find it a very discouraging message. BTW, my doctor and the doctor after her both say that the day you quit, your lungs begin to heal and eventually you have no more chance of lung cancer than anybody else. My 94-year-old mother smoked until she was 75. So please stop being the voice of Doom and Gloom saying Don't Bother To Quit.
Well, I can match that one point of data with another. A relative smoked for 50+ years, quit about age 68, and immediately went downhill, very fast. Who knows, but the emphysema came roaring and he was never able to recover

[Speedy]

Tough news. You did your best.

[davester]

$tevie wrote:
[quote=davester]
Every friend and relative that I've ever known who smoked regularly has died of lung cancer, some of them quite young (i.e. in their 40s). The luckiest quit in her 40s and then made it to her early 80s before succumbing.

You say this every time the subject of smoking comes up. Basically, you are saying that if you smoke, don't bother to quit. I find it a very discouraging message. BTW, my doctor and the doctor after her both say that the day you quit, your lungs begin to heal and eventually you have no more chance of lung cancer than anybody else. My 94-year-old mother smoked until she was 75. So please stop being the voice of Doom and Gloom saying Don't Bother To Quit.
I'm sorry that it bums you out, and it was not my intention to be discouraging or to say not to bother quitting. I understand that the smoking death rate is high but certainly not 100%, that there are in fact people who do make it through a smoking "career" without getting lung cancer, and that quitting definitely cuts the risk significantly. However, I'm just relaying my experience here. It has been heartbreaking and has had a huge impact on me to lose every single person (including my mother) to lung cancer that I have ever known to have been a smoker. I feel compelled to pass on my experience in the hope that it is significant enough that it might convince some who have started smoking and perhaps fool themselves into thinking that "it can't happen to me" or "I can beat the odds" to reconsider.

[IronMac]

xx

[MacArtist]

My dad started smoking Camel straights (no filter) at 13. He quit smoking at 65. He had a couple of strokes that slowed him down but complications from Parkinson's took him at 79.

My mother in law is dying from COPD. She is 65 and hasn't tried to quit smoking. She figures it's too late. She uses a nebulizer to open up the passageways in her lungs then immediately goes and has a cigarette.

[wave rider]

Sorry about your friend, hal...

[Grateful11]

Sorry to hear that Hal. All the members of my immediate family quit decades ago. My Dad started when he was 12 and stopped in his 60's and made until he came as 82. The only one in family to death e of lung cancer was my grandmother but she never smoked but grandpa did until his 60's but even she lived to be 87. Either way cancer sure as hell sucks.

[pdq]

Yeah, as sorta suggested by others in the thread, even if you don't get lung cancer, virtually everyone with a big-time smoking history will end up with lung disease (emphysema/COPD), as well as markedly increasing their risk for heart disease and stroke (and impotence, FWIW). Beyond that, many folks don't know that smoking also increases your risk of dozens of other cancers, some that seem logical (throat cancer), and some that seem surprising (bladder cancer, leukemia).

I'm Debbie Downer today, huh?

[Rick-o]

DeusxMac wrote:
[quote=davester]
...I am completely puzzled as to why people smoke.

Addiction.

"Nicotine is highly addictive, comparable to heroin or cocaine."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#R..._disorders
And we STILL don't know exactly what else they put in cigs to keep you addicted.

The tobacco industry and their lobbyists are very powerful. You will never see tobacco outlawed.