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After Fifty Years. . .

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  • Member since
    June 2016
After Fifty Years. . .
Posted by David from PA on Thursday, November 17, 2016 11:44 PM

I finally quit smoking. I'm 65 and have been smoking since I was 15 (maybe 14, I remember having a pack in my gym bag in high school and my mom found it). Anyway, I had to go to the doc's a couple of weeks ago and he said I needed to get a CT scan of my lungs because I hadn't had one for a couple of years. Went and had the CT done and, sure enough, they found something in my left lung that looked like it could be cancer. So they told me I needed to get a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) and a PET (?) scan and after that talk to the cancer specialist. So I went and got the PFT and the PET and, lo and behold, IT WAS NOT CANCER!!! So, I've got a second chance. As cigarettes are now over $80.00 a carton here in Pennsylvania I figure I'll save at least $320.00 a month (I was smoking something a bit over a carton a week). Which, actually, is really good because it puts some of those more expensive models in reach as well as, if not improving my health, at least keeping it on the level. Of course no one can say for certain that it will extend my life this late in the game but it's nice to know that at least I'm not shortening it by lighting up twenty or thirty times a day. 

David From PA

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Pineapple Country, Queensland, Australia
Posted by Wirraway on Friday, November 18, 2016 12:05 AM
Best thing you will ever do (healthwise) I quit 5 years ago, and while I get the occasional craving, I would never go back.

"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional"

" A hobby should pass the time - not fill it"  -Norman Bates

 

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  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Friday, November 18, 2016 7:09 AM

I am SO HAPPY for you, and I only hope that you continue to resist the urge and DO NOT START AGAIN.

My favorite uncle died from lung cancer. When he was diagnosed with it, he was SO incredibly angry at himself. We used to always nag him at Holidays when he would step out on the porch and light up: "Come on, Uncle Ted, really? You're still smoking? You know that's going to kill you, don't you?".

He would laugh it off, and make some kind of joke about it. I don't think he ever really thought he would get cancer. He survived two tours of Vietnam, a near-fatal motorccyle wreck that put over 400 stitches in his head and a vindictive, evil ex-wife. But cancer took him in 6 weeks.

Good luck. Stay strong. Yes

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Friday, November 18, 2016 9:45 AM

As a kid, I remember my dad buying a carton a week and paying $3.50, the same amount that a new GI Joe cost (the big tall ones with clothes).

As a lieutenant in Germany in 1987, a fellow lieutenant I shared an apartment with would always buy a pack of cigarettes from a machine on the street for 4,50DM which was about $3.50 a pack. Then he wouldn't have enough Deutche Marks to buy a train ticket into work and he'd bum some off of me. After becoming a daily occurrence, I stopped carrying extra marks so I didn't have any to give him. I started buying their week long passes. He'd have to ride the train without a ticket and be at risk of the train cops that sometimes stopped the train to spot check for freeloaders. That was a 50DM fine, I know he got caught at least once.

Other than that, I never gave it a thought to how much money the smoking habit cost someone. I've always thought of it more along the lines of health and health related costs.

I hope you are able to remain a nonsmoker and that you are able to buy the kits that might cost a little more, but you really, really want. Good luck on your journey.

fox
  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Narvon, Pa.
Posted by fox on Friday, November 18, 2016 10:44 AM

Congrats David! Hang in there. I know it's not easy but you can do it. Yes

I smoked 3 packs a day from '58 to '80. I went outside at work on day to have one. I had a cold and it didn't taste good. I put it out and threw the rest of the pack in the trash and haven't had one since. I've never tried to figure out how much money I've saved.

Jim  Captain

 Main WIP: 

   On the Bench: Artesania Latina  (aka) Artists in the Latrine 1/75 Bluenose II

I keep hitting "escape", but I'm still here.

  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Vancouver, the "wet coast"
Posted by castelnuovo on Friday, November 18, 2016 11:45 AM

GOOD FOR YOU!!!! Sometimes we need a bit of a scare to quit (cancer) and a bit of a motivation (model kits Smile). I did a short time at the pulmonary rehab (as work, not as patient) and it was ugly. All of the ex smokers cursed the day they started smoking, the wasted money and ruined health. 

Cheers...

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Naples, FL
Posted by tempestjohnny on Friday, November 18, 2016 1:54 PM
Good luck with this. Here's another money perspective $3840 a year. That's a lot of plastic

 

  • Member since
    June 2016
Posted by David from PA on Friday, November 18, 2016 6:38 PM

First of all, thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement.

When I was in the service (Navy) they were 26 cents per pack and $2.60 per carton (and, often, I had to search the couch cushions for 26 cents). With the stress of the job (all you vets know what I mean) it was darn near impossible to quit. Then, when I was sailing around on the carriers they were 16 cents a pack and $1.60 a carton (plus the freebies that came with the combat ration). At that price they were too cheap to give up and, again, there was the job stress thing ("I don't care that it'll take an hour to fix it. I need that plane in 20 minutes for the next launch!!"). I'm getting close to the end on my Mk 1 tank. Already talked to my wonderful, supportive wife who is going to let me get the 1/32 scale A-6E (TRAM) from Trumpeter so quitting is already paying off (I even told her it could be my Christmas present but she said it wouldn't count).

BTW, I'm doing this with patches and gum. The gum is for emergency only and I've used only one piece.

Thanks, again for all the support!

David From PA

 

 

  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: Forest Hill, Maryland
Posted by cwalker3 on Sunday, November 20, 2016 6:09 AM

Congratulations on your decision to quit AND your negative test results. I quit 6 years ago after smoking for about 40 years. I too had an X-ray come back showing problems. In my case it was emphysema. In addition I have chronic bronchitis so I now get to list COPD as one of my afflictions on medical questionnaies. All from smoking. Starting was the worst decision I ever made.  

When I decidied to quit I used Chantix. I smoked the first week that I used it and then after that I quit. And now, six years later, I still want one from time to time, but the urge is fleeting. And today, even with the COPD, I can do a 5 mile walk, with some pretty good hills along the way, in less than an hour and a half. My brochitis hasn't flared up since I quit smoking and I rarely get a cold. Today, at 62, I feel healthier than I did at 40.

I say all that to say this. You're going to have some tough times ahead. Nicotine is one of the hardest drugs to get off of. Just stick with it. When the urge hits you, do something, anything, to take your mind off of it. The urge won't last more than a few minutes. After about a week or so, you'll be over the physical addiction. Then the habit itself has to be dealt with and this is the really hard part of quitting. Wanting to smoke when your bored, after a meal, while your reading, watching TV, etc. You get the picture. But, like I said, the urge only lasts a few minutes. And before you know it, you'll start feeling a lot beter, you'll definitely smell better Big Smile, and you'll have a heckuva lot more money!

Good luck and keep us updated on yur progress!

Cary 

Cary

 


  • Member since
    July 2013
  • From: Chicago area
Posted by modelmaker66 on Monday, November 21, 2016 12:05 AM

It looks like you really dodged a bullet! I am happy thet it was nothing. Keep off the smokes so it will stay that way. You can do it!

  • Member since
    April 2013
Posted by KnightTemplar5150 on Monday, November 21, 2016 2:50 AM
Atta boy, David! Hang tough - you've got this!
  • Member since
    March 2009
  • From: Yorkville, IL
Posted by wolfhammer1 on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 8:56 PM

David, Congratulations both for kicking the habit and dodging the bullet with the cancer.  Just FYI, at PET is a Positron Emission Tomography, in which a tracer is introduced into the body and the scanner reads the radiation emitted. 

John

  • Member since
    November 2010
  • From: Florida-West Central
Posted by Eagle90 on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 6:24 AM

Great news!!!!!!!!!  I hate cancer!  I lost my dad at age 15 from lung cancer, and recently lost my wife to cancer.  So hearing you do not have cancer is a refreshing story!  Now go get you an expensive kit you would not have gotten before and enjoy your family, time, and life!  And be sure to post pics of the high end kit!  Wink

Eagle90

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 8:53 AM

David;

 Good for you . I felt so free after I got on that Non-Smoking wagon . I felt better too ! Yes , this refers to that in the past tense . Right now I am back to three -quarters of a pack a day .

    I fell off right after I walked out of the emergency room after my accident last week . I am trying to climb back on that wagon and just when I think I am going to make it the insurance company , the police or whoever calls and I am right back to shot nerves and needing that calming smoke .

     I don't deal with stress as well as when I was younger and no one told me what to do , where to go ( oh , I had a lot do that ) or what to eat and where to do this and that . So I'll Keep trying . I like the clearer vision that freedom from tobacco gave me .      T.B. 

  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Washington, DC
Posted by TomZ2 on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 10:11 PM

Re: "After Fifty Years. . ." I remember the smog in New York during Thanksgiving. Do you?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/02/1966_NYC_smog_by_Neal_Boenzi_NYT.jpg

Occasional factual, grammatical, or spelling variations are inherent to this thesis and should not be considered as defects, as they enhance the individuality and character of this document.

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