A little over a year ago I had a conversation with my mom and my uncle about smoking. My mother has lost virtually all of her teeth to smoking and my uncle had a heart attack about 8 years ago and was told to quit. He quit for about 6 months and then went back to smoking. Now he smokes with an oxygen pump in one hand and the cigarette in another.
My grandmother had 2/3rds of one lung removed due to smoking and quit immediately when I was a teenager. She died of a stroke later that year. My grandfather had a 3rd heart attack and decided to quit smoking. He died of another heart attack later that year. These are the parents of my uncle and my mom.
My mom and my uncle both said that 'quitting smoking will kill you'. I was shocked! I couldn't comprehend it and we debated it at length. They believe that their parents died because they quit smoking.
When I quit, I had to stop talking to my mom for a long time. Each time I would struggle she would tell me to smoke and I would feel better. Once, she even called me in the middle of the night and said she was so worried about me and begged me to go back to smoking before it was too late.
My point here is that smoking is a powerful addiction. I've heard it is the hardest addiction to quit. Having been through the quit, I believe it to be true. Regardless of the thought process of the addict, smoking WILL kill. It amazes me how anyone could believe that quitting would be a death sentence and have no fear with continuing to smoke. I guess it depends on your state of mind.
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/1/2005
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 787
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 15,740
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2,754.50
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 71 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 17 [B]Seconds:[/B] 6
