JCC ITT I Encourage Tunick To Quit Smoking

Similar for my dad, though he quit after nearly 40 years of smoking when my mom passed away in 1999. He had tried to "quit" a number of times before then, but when it actually happened to her, he finished the last pack he was on and hasn't looked back ever since. (It's also the only reason he survived the heart attack he got a couple years later!)


Anyway, I know this is supposed to be a fun, jokey thread, but Tunick, I saw my mom (who had smoked since she was a teenager and died at only age 53) literally wither and die in front of me during my teenage years. Emphysema is no joke. I'll never forget that final night I went to visit her in the hospital, and I could hear her from the elevator down the hall groaning and gasping for breath. I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.

 

^ I'm sorry.

 

Just to echo., my father smoked for 25 years, quit, got throat cancer at 70. I didn't have to go through it myself, but all evidence points to the chemo and radiation being a terrible experience. It killed all his taste buds. He lost all his teeth. He's cancer free now but his health has never been the same.

 

yeah rew, that's really rough. sorry for your loss too, laj.

i hope my "just smoke if you want to" post didn't seem like it was making light of people's suffering. i've just noticed happier people tend to be healthier and live longer. also moderation is key. the oldest person who ever lived smoked until she was 117, but only a couple a day.

 

Sounds like my dad except he couldn't tolerate the chemo. He had radiation and due to the condition of his teeth he had to have them removed prior to that.
My mom also smoked and she was having exploratory surgery for jaw cancer. She had a heart attack in recovery so she didn't have a lingering death. She went after Dad and wasn't the same once he'd gone - they'd been married over 60 years.

 

Sorry to hear about what happened to your fathers, LAJ and Kylo.

Thanks. It was tough watching what happened to my mom. But if there's any silver lining, it wisened up my dad, and he's been alive and (mostly) in good health to this day.

Thanks, and no problem--I didn't take it that way. Just watching what my mom went through, and what nearly happened to my dad too, it's hard not to have a visceral reaction in general to the issue of smoking. But I see what you're saying too.

 

Given that both my parents smoked, I'm surprised I never took it up. I tried the odd few in high school but decided it wasn't for me.

 

Given that both my parents smoked, I'm surprised I never took it up. I tried the odd few in high school but decided it wasn't for me.

 

That does have grounds in reality.

I got to talking to this one dude who was trying to manage his cholesterol, and he mentioned that his mom had problems with it too.

She was over 90 years old and ate whatever the hell she wanted (within reason). I think she was doing pretty good not following the doctor's strict advice.

 

And I get what the two of you have been saying; the part in tom's post about 'helping you enjoy' is what spoke to me the most, even with the Faustian deal involved; obviously there's no healthy amount of smoking, but it's not a thing that controls my life, even if it can seem that way from time-to-time from sentiments I share here or elsewhere (anyone on social media has their own versions of annoying posts about anything, by-the-way. ).





Lots of things I do are odd to enough people, but it's a 1000% reasonable as to why this particular activity is cause for debate & concern.

 

You all did not ask if he was willing to quit. This intervention was not advisable.

 

I'm pretty sure we were all just joking, and then got off on a tangent about our experiences with smoking.

 

The JCC helped me quit!

 

The nicotine content in modern cigarettes is artificially high so that it's easier to get addicted to them. It's kind of hard to moderate-- not speaking from experience but statistics. It doesn't help that the U.S. has no limit at all on nicotine content even though setting it low enough would measurably reduce smoking rates and deaths.

I don't necessarily approve of this thread. However, I think the whole "let people do what they want" thing is oversimplifying the issue in most cases, and particularly in the case of smoking an addictive plant controlled by very powerful entities who have a vested interest in getting people addicted.

 

Very true - we've been smoking for 2000 years, but it's never been harder to quit than it is now.

 

as tom said, moderation is key. two types of people are both smokers -- one smokes a pack a day and will die young, the other smokes maybe a couple a day, or none at all and only when they drink, and yeah its still not healthy and maybe it will take a few years off but there's lots of bad things people do. being overly judgmental about smokers is a bad thing that people do.

 

I have also quit E, yes, but that was longer ago.

 

I quit in 2013 with the help of the people here. Then one day I was at this wonderful Turkish banquet, and people were lighting them up indoors afterward. I couldn't resist. The next day I was a smoker again.

Then last year the teeth actually started falling out of my mouth. So I quit again, Jan 1st. Haven't smoked since, except for some puffs from the neighbour's joints and one ciggy from Diggy.

 

You assured me you were drunk enough you wouldn't remember it. Lying bastard!

And it was about half a cig.

 

EDIT: Eh, that "joke" wasn't funny.

 

Stick the kettle on.