GUESS WHO WAS FORCED TO STOP SMOKING

If you guessed it was me, you are 100% correct. Yup, I was forced to stop smoking due to the fact I was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. Mind you, not even ONE of the doctors, or specialists, would say that smoking caused my cancer....they did however say it MAY have contributed to it (just as I say it may NOT have contributed to it)....but no emphatic "your 48+ years of smoking caused your lung cancer". I was diagnosed on Feb. 26/09, had it confirmed on Mar. 26/09, then had it surgically removed June 19/09, smoking my brains out right up until I was admitted into the hospital for surgery 3 hours later. Sounds fairly quick, right? Not if you went through the bull-puckey I had to go through JUST to confirm, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was indeed Lung Cancer and whether or not it had spread to the lymph nodes in my neck via a Brochoscopy (they cut a hole in your throat, shove a camera down the slit and manouver it up into your lung and check out the lymp nodes...not fun). Also not fun was the CT Guided Biopsy where they went through my back close to my spine in order to get under my shoulder blade to reach the "cancer" which I'm guessing was located on the back of my right lung.

According to my Pulmonary Specialist, the diagnosis for 96% of those with this type of Lung Cancer is terminal. I, however, am "one of the lucky ones" and fall within the other 4%....meaning they caught it in time to remove it. Needless to say, having the top lobe of your right lung removed is excruciatingly painful. I would describe it in detail, but even I get queazy thinking about the 5 new scars I have on my body from my underarm to below my breast and on my back. And trying to walk with two huge drainage tubes dangling from you wasn't exactly a joy either.

Do I blame smoking for my lung cancer? NO, I do not. There is absolutely NO PROOF that it causes cancer, and only speculation that it "may contribute" to it. In my eyes, the only thing that is "absolute" is the misinformation that Politicians and the General Public have been given in order to further the cause of one specific "special interest" group.

Just because I have been forced to stop smoking does not mean that I look at "smokers" differently (I better not, I'm happily married to one), nor have I changed my opinion on the smoker's and business owner's rights.

It has occurred to me, listening to the latest WHO "warning" (carcinogens in tanning beds), that between them and ASH, they seem to "find" an awful lot of "carcinogens" in things people enjoy....know what I mean? They (meaning WHO and ASH) have become "puritans" and are bound and bent to "rid" the world of all that they consider to be "evil" by declaring them "carcinogenic". Seems to me not long ago, they were screaming how bad eggs were for you....hmmm, what changed their tune? Just like they use to say a glass of wine a day was good for your health....not any more though, now it can lead to breast cancer....(it can also lead to alcoholism, don't ya know). Listen closely the next time WHO sends out a "warning".....it'll have something to do with carcinogens and something people like to do, wanna bet?

I have a question for any medical professional out there....one I'm sure I will get many different opinions on. I have been forced to stop smoking, so I ask you, which "me", and these are your only two choices, would you rather treat as a patient...#1. A 300+ pound ex-smoker with heart problems and diminished lung capacity, who does not "snack" healthy when the nicotine cravings hit because nothing calms the urge and refuses to use "nicotine substitutes" to get "over the hump". OR #2. A 150 pound smoker with heart problems and diminished lung capacity. C'mon Docs, lets hear some "real" truth here. No, I am not at the 300+ pound mark.....yet. Know this Docs, before you answer....I did NOT want to stop smoking, and have had a constant battle going on inside me. It will be 6 weeks tomorrow (Friday) since my last cigarette. Like an alcoholic, I am taking it one day at a time, one hour, one minute and so on. To me this is even a harder battle to win due to the fact I didn't want to stop smoking.

Well my friends (and non-friends), it is getting late and I think I had best get to bed, so I will sign off for now and will write more later. Check out some of my links before you leave.