Well John...I really really hope you succeed. Maybe this will give some incentive...I know it has for me.

Last march I got out of my truck while making my deliveries and when I stood up my whole left side just went numb...I went to the hospital and luckily it wasn't a stroke.

But since all this has happened and I've had to have all these tests done. In the process of testing (CT-Scans) something else was revealed that had nothing to do with my numbness (I see a Neurologist in 6 days to see if he can tell why that happened) and if was that I have 2 Aneurysms....1 is an abdominal aortic aneurysm (4.4 centimeters) and the other is in my heart on the ascending aorta (3.5 centimeters) ...both of which were caused "mostly" by smoking and will continue to increase in size if I don't quit smoking. And even if I am successful in quiting I will still have to have a stint inserted into my abdominal aorta because of my age....meaning to young for it to be that size....if I was older it wouldn't be as much as of concern.

So think about it because the same "could" be happening to you and you wouldn't even know it until it was to late...there is no warning sign...it just happens...and believe me bud I know what your going through trying to quit...its hard as hell...especially when your stressed or sitting front of where you are right now reading this. I've tried everything numerous times to quit...and those patches went great with a cig! And right now I'm stressed to the limit not knowing why my left side is all messed up.

All joking aside, I really hope you succeed and I'll be right along side you trying again and praying I succeed...because this time for me its literally life or death...I gotta make it work! And if ya need to talk any time of day for support let me know....more than glad to be there for ya.

Oh....and I don't have health insurance either...which is more stress...just what I need! (

You might also want to try and get some Xanax (.5 milligrams) through a doctor...its cheap....like 10 bucks for a months supply. Just tell them your stressed out and can't sleep...it doesn't make you feel weird or anything like that but it does a great job at calming the nerves.

vStyler - I guess the central issue is we want everyone here to be around for a long long time and quitting sure helps in that regard.

more interested in the next 26......  
think forward.....  

go eat a plate of crackers and cheese to go with that whine....

then take a nap until Saturday...

Webgizmos....my thoughts and prayers are with you. BTW, it's a "stent"....and the 'numbness' thing might require a MRI-MRA to be done.

Guys, go the HSA direction (Health Savings Account) I have yet to understand (apart from corruption of public officials by the insurance industry) why our government doesn't have a "Catastrophic Medical Insurance" for critical hospital stays, allowing people to have simple health savings accounts to pay for medicines and doctor visits (after all, how many visits per year does one have?). Also never understood why we haven't got:
1. "Roll Over" type insurance - the unused part rolls over to the next year.
2. Means testing and decrementally funded entitlement programs (i.e. decreasing entitlement as income and age increase).
3. The right to demand the same health care program our elected representatives voted themselves.

I've never smoked, but I had 2 heart attacks last year with no insurance. To pay back the wonderful men that saved my life I became their IT Manager. LOL. Now I work for a group of 16 cardiac specialists...the pay's good (but not great) and the benifits are fantastic. Haven't had to pay for my plavix or zetia in a year.

My father was a smoker for as long as I can remember, he quit cold turkey after being shown pics of his lungs last August. It took him weeks to control the cravings and was a bear to live with, but I'm convinced that if he hadn't quit we wouldn't have him today.

Hang in there it will get better.

John,

Not to get maudlin on you or anything, but my grandfather died about four years ago of lung cancer. He literally smoked until the day he died, and it wasn't a nice way to go. His wife preceded him in death many years earlier (I don't remember her at all), also due to smoking-related illness.

My wife smokes too. She and my brother are the only ones in the family who do. I quit pushing her to quit a few years ago; in the midst of an attempt to quit, at six weeks without a cigarette, being in the car with me drove her to take it back up again. It sounds funny but it's not and I wish it were a joke. I wish she would quit, but she won't until she's ready to do it for herself.

I hope that time is soon. And I wish you the best of luck in your efforts. No one who hasn't been through it can know how difficult it is to quit, but I certainly hope you can make it.

Brian

Believe in yourself John.

Best of Luck - keep us informed.
Andy

Good Luck John and Web! You both can do it, so DO IT! Wish you all the best.

Good on you, WG, given your health issues of late, you're one person I'm really pleased for.... I wish you every success in quitting the dreaded smokes and hope that you enjoy increasingly improved health/quality of life as a result.

Same to you, John... to everyone who decided to quit smoking, all the very best and may each of you be blessed with the benefits of being healthier & wealthier due to being smoke free.

The missus and I did it 8 months ago now and we have never looked back... being smoke free is too darned good to consider it, even for a second.

good luck guys

Each smoke free day that you go through gets you one day closer to where you want to be. Keep it up vStyler, you can do it.