A true story to hopefully get even just one person's attention:
30 months ago I was home alone. My spouse, who is now deceased, was on her yearly sojourn to Lake George, NY. It was mid-afternoon and I realized that my temperature was steadyly rising. At around 3:00 PM I called my oldest daughter and instructed her to come and take me to the medical clinic immediately.
When we arrived, the first procedure was an X-Ray. Upon developing it, the radiologist said that in his 35 years of practice, he had never seen lungs so congested, and the person still breathing. I was immediately transferred by air to the facility in Gainesville. By the time I had arrived I was in a deep coma. 31 days later I woke up and had missed halloween with my granddaughter, the world series and I saw that the TV had on the elections. You want to talk about being confusted.
Bottom line - I had contracted a dread disease known as Hantavirus(look that bad boy up on your search engine). Because of its rapid ability to seize the body, I then developed Acute Respitory Distress Syndrome (very similiar to the sars in Pacific ream a couple of years back). The conditions accelrated to Acute Renal failure, Sepsis shock, bi-lateral pnuemonia, etc.
The wonderful ICU critical care physician, specializing in respitory conditions, said he had never seen anyone survive the above. His only explanation was that I HAD QUIT SMOKING A COUPLE YEARS PRIOR.
In conclusion, the only other person I have ever known with that condition was a heavy smoker and Joel died within 3 days of being diagnosed.
Need I say more as we prepare to celebrate this joyous holiday. Imagine what it would be like for our loved ones if we were not here because of a damned cigarette.
Lindsey
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 9/10/2001
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 1676
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 100,603
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $16760
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 345 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 9 [B]Seconds:[/B] 15
