Sitting in waiting room with lung cancer patients is best inspiration to quit smoking

[FrameyMcFrame]

I'm waiting for my mum in the cancer centre, she's got breast cancer and is having scans. Right next to me is a man with lung cancer puffing away on a nicorette inhalator.
I need to stop smoking too and I'd rather do it before I get lung cancer. This poor guy next to me has given up but it might be too late for him.
I started smoking at boarding school to be in with the right crowd! Pathetic eh? I was 15. I've given up twice since then, each time I was pregnant and then started again.
Got to stop now.

[MamaChocoholic]

good on you! sieze the moment and stop today. one of the things that stopped me quitting was that I thought having started young and smoked so long I'd probably done all the damage there was to do. the I read that once you've been an ex smoker for 5 years, and if you manage not to get cancer in that time, your risk of lung cancer drops to that of a never smoker. this was great motivation for me.

I also watched an Alan Carr video, after which I found quitting almost painless (having failed many times before).

good luck, and hope your mum's treatment goes well.

[Sidge]

Sorry to hear about your mum.

Good luck with quitting. Smokers should also come and hang out in a COPD clinic (more about COPD here) as it might put them off a bit. Millions more smokers will get COPD than will get lung cancer - COPD might not kill you but it can make you wish you were dead as it's such an awful disease

It's NEVER too late to quit:

^Smoking cessation timeline ? the health benefits over time

In 20 minutes, your blood pressure and pulse rate decrease, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increase.
Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the blood?s ability to carry oxygen. At 8 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood decreases to normal. With the decrease in carbon monoxide, your blood oxygen level increases to normal.
At 24 hours, your risk of having a heart attack decreases.
At 48 hours, nerve endings start to regrow and the ability to smell and taste is enhanced.
Between 2 weeks and 3 months, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier and you don?t cough or wheeze as often. Phlegm production decreases. Within several months, you have significant improvement in lung function.
In 1 to 9 months, coughs, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease as you continue to see significant improvement in lung function. Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs, regain normal function.
In 1 year, risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is reduced to half that of a smoker.
Between 5 and 15 years after quitting, your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
In 10 years, your risk of lung cancer drops. Additionally, your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease. Even after a decade of not smoking however, your risk of lung cancer remains higher than in people who have never smoked. Your risk of ulcer also decreases.
In 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack in similar to that of people who have never smoked. The risk of death returns to nearly the level of a non-smoker.^

[justhe1]

i agree, ive been a nurse for 22 years and have seen some awful things.

But for me, the worst death i have witnessed is that of an alcoholic. Its truly horiffic.

[imnotforty]

I haven't had a cigarette since Sunday night, seem to be managing ok at the moment. I am slightly grumpy, although prob no worse than normal lol. finding it difficult to know what to do with myself.

[WhoseGotMyEyebrows]

I watched my mum die. Not of lung cancer but of a different kind. It had spread to her liver and consumed it. She developed an infection in the liver. That is what she died of. It was a long slow painful death. It is something I'll never get out of my mind.

[ggirl]

In the last week I have visited about 10 patients with smoking related cancer...all of them dying at home and not that old either.
Very sad

[FrameyMcFrame]

thanks everyone, how are you stopping Imnotforty? Did you use patches or anything or just cold turkey?
I'm going to pop out and buy some of those inhalators and a mouth spray which is apparently v effective for powerful cravings.
1st of September tomorrow so a good quit date.

[imnotforty]

will power at the mo, I did start a thread and a couple of others said they were stopping as well. they seem to have disappeared now so I don't know how they are getting on.

come and join me, we can shout at each other if things get bad.

[25goingon95]

Im a carer and i have a lady at the moment who has severe COPD. She is in a very bad way,she can't do anything because she can hardly breathe. She lives in a constant state of anxiety due to gasping for breath 24/7.
My mum has just been dianosed with this and sitting in the lung clinic surrounded by COPD sufferers is bloody scary :(

You seriously don't want to end up that way, the lady i care for spends a lot of her time crying and ranting about how stupid she has been to damage her lungs this way. She has lost her beloved job, has had to watch her beautiful garden become overgrown when it was her pride and joy. She can't play with her little granddaughter. She is just waiting to die.

Its grim, every time you think to yourself how hard it is to resist that fag, think of how hard its going to be in the future just to breathe

Good luck to those who are giving up, you can do it!!! and you will be so, so glad you did!! As will your children and grandchildren :)

[FrameyMcFrame]

These stories are adding to my resolve so thanks.
Just phoned the quit smoking helpline and it's confused me now. they've told me to come to a stop smoking session next tues but I'm worried I'll have forgotten the will to stop by then... It's a 12 week programme but I want to stop now. Not sure what to do now
I'll join your thread imnot40, where is it? Need more willpower now...

[ggirl]

Evidence shows you are more likely to be successful at giving up if you join a smoking cessation group.
Give it a go.
I do know how hard it is , I gave up 10 yrs ago.
I used Allan carrs book , but it did help that I got pregnant soon after.

Good luck !!

[imnotforty]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/1289270-today-Im-giving-up-smoking

This is thread but it's gone very quiet, only me lol. We can support each other though. If you want to start now, just do it.

[Sidge]

Try your GP surgery Framey - they may have a Practice Nurse or GP offering smoking cessation advice and support. You can get NRT such as patches, inhalators, nasal spray, microtabs, lozenges, etc or non-NRT such as Champix on prescription so cheaper than buying over the counter.

Maybe you can get in to them before the smoking group next Tuesday, and then do both?

[Iamseeingstars]

I wish I had known more about the dangers when I was younger.

I have NEVER ever smoked, but I have cancer that has caused serious damage from passive smoking - I worked in a smoking environment for more than 10 years and am now paying the consequences.

I think if you get a disease because you did/took something then that is a fair risk, you took the gamble, but it sucks when you get the disease just because of the environment.

When you go to the cancer centre it is horrific watching so many people suffering. The waitng areas are huge and they are always full. I am just one of many and it is really heartbreaking to see the suffering that is all around you. It is also horrific watching people who are towards the end of their life, and so far, all those I have seen have been young people.

There is a lot to be said about taking care of yourself when you are young, because you just dont know what lies ahead.

[FrameyMcFrame]

Thanks Sidge and thanks seeingstars.
Yes I will go to the group. I've tried my GP but got nowhere... I asked for help to stop smoking and the GP thought I was joking! After pressing the issue he sent me across to the pharmacy as the pharmacist runs the smoking cessation for the practice but then she sent me away as I apparently don't live near enough to the pharmacy.
I left crying, yeah it sounds pathetic really but I had tried to take the first step and it wasn't easy to do so, there's a voice in my head saying 'it's ok to smoke, you can give up later..' and I feel like I'm fighting it off. I hate myself for smoking, I have 2 young DC and want to be there for them.

[Sidge]

Crikey that's less than helpful

If you think you might benefit from online support and advice I'm happy to help if I can - I'm a smoking cessation adviser

[Twosugarsplease]

Please don't give up thinking you can't stop. You can, and I'm proof with the help of champix pill, I wou.d go back to your gp and ask him about this, he should be more supportive! It made me feel sick, tired, out of sorts, but it stopped me smoking, like I said to everyone asking me how I was getting on, it feels like I've been given some kind of miracle pill, and that I amazinly don't need a cigarette anymore. Side effects not pleasant, but worth it, good luck x

[ripstheirthroatoutliveupstairs]

I am waiting for my notes in order to be able to start Champix. They could be at the doctor tomorrow, more likely they'll tell me they aren't.
Seven weeks on and I'm still waiting.

[privatename]

Hi,i bought Alan Carr's book on ebay,spent the whole day reading it from cover to cover and never touched another fag since,this was 2 years ago,i'd been a smoker for 26 years!

I can't reccomend this book enough,don't really get how it worked but it doesn't matter!!!

Go buy a copy,will be the best money you ever spend.

[MamaChocoholic]

Another vote for Alan Carr. I had tried to give up so many times, sometimes lasting hours, sometimes days, even a few months, but always struggling to stay off them till I finally gave in. Thne watched the video and never wanted another fag again!

[higgle]

This week I went to the funeral of my longest standing friend who died of cancer of the oesophagus having earlier gone into remission with another oral cancer. She smoked heavily and was a social drinker from the age of 14 and has left two lovely sons, now in their early 20's and an 86 year old mother who will find it hard to cope without her. I just hope anyone else who knows her and is still smoking will now stop.

[Iamseeingstars]

I witnessed an extended family member go through the final stages of lung cancer after smoking all their lives, and the devastation and trauma it caused the family. And they all came out of the funeral and smoked. They all believed it wouldnt happen to them.
I was shocked to say the least.