Hi folks. DougInKY here. If you check the quit list you will find me
under the Olympian Old Fogey list. I quit a 3 pack a day habit (for
30+ years) cold turkey on December 28, 2001. I haven't had a puff
since that day. Not one.
Folks, you can quit. If you don't let the nicodemon lie and convince
you that you just have to have one more. I was a Marine, I was fit, I
could run a full marathon so I really didn't internalize that I was
killing myself with tobacco. Finally, I noticed one day that I was
short of breath when I ran up a couple of flights of stairs at work. I
decided that I should quit smoking. I tried and tried to quit. I
tried Cold Turkey, I tried Hypnotism, I tried Acupuncture, I tried
Smoking Cessation cl*****, I tried prescription medicine. None of the
seemed to work for more than a few days until I had a bad heart attack
and had to have open heart surgery (4 vessel). I then quit. I realized
that if I didn't I wouldn't be here on this earth much longer.
I am still hanging around here on this green earth. I have emphysema
and have to use oxygen sometimes (I don't use it as much as my doctor
or my wife wishes I would). I have chest pain with exertion (my
doctors tell me that there isn't any more that they can do for my
heart). But... I am still alive. This is a good thing. I can't run
anymore but I can still ride my motorcycle. I can spend time with my
family. I can play with my cat. All of this beats the daylights out of
dead.
Please, please, please don't do as I did. Quit before you get sick. I
promise you, you will get sick if you keep on smoking. I know, someone
will tell a story that someone in their family lived to be a hundred
and chain smoked his or her whole life. These people are statically
abnormalities. Don't plan on beating the odds, the chances of you
doing that a very slim indeed.
Use whatever plan you want, just pick one and stick with it. You will
thank yourself for doing so in a few years.
And before you ask. Yes, I still keep a quit meter:
Quit smoking for:
6 years 4 months 5 days 9 hours 44 minutes and 42 seconds
Cigarettes not smoked:
162,288
Money saved:
$20,326.63 USD
Life saved:
Every day since my heart attack
Thank you for reading,
Doug in Kentucky
Olympian Old Fogie
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