* Admin..if this is in the wrong place...please feel free to move it* Wednesday June 8th 2011 I am on TB reading the forums. I am also working on my OBS car...kitbashing the plate glass full window in the back. Looking thru my lighted magnifier...cutting...filing....test fitting...reading the forum. I lean over and go to roll me a cigerette. I feel a strong pain in my chest. Thought for sure I popped a rib ! I hurt like hell for about 10 seconds...then subsided. Those of you who have been there...know where this is going! Just an FYI...we have one of the biggest wildfires in Arizona history burning just 40 miles from our house. The winds shift and we get smoke settling in here in our town. I can't breath ! I have Asthma to top things off. I roll some more cigarettes. Breathing is becoming unbearable. Saturday the 11th of June We have to go to Phoenix for my recently departed father in laws memorial. He wanted his ashes spread on the Superstition Mountains. I could breath better at a lower altitude. I roll some more smokes. We drive back up here Saturday night. June 12th Sunday morning... I can't breath again ! I get no sleep Sunday night...hurts to damn much to breath. I roll some more smokes and stay up all night !! Monday?...I dont even remember Monday...or Tuesday for that matter. I am sure I was on TB and working on my trains !! THE WIFE says I was panting like a sex starved dog all day !! Wednesday June 15th This morning she gets up in the morning and sees me sitting on the couch...trying to breath...yup...smoking a cigarette! She drags me out to the van and gets me to the hospital! Took them 5 hours to get me calmed down enough and somewhat breathing. Xrays and and an ultrasound later ...they discuss whether to keep me there for the night or send me home. Luckily for me...they decided to keep me for the night. Thursday the 16th. More chest xrays and more ultrasounds. They stick me in this little room off the main ultrasound room. The tech checks my lungs from the back with the ultrasound. The doctors comes in....."George...you have a lot of fluid on your lungs...we need to drain it!" "Its a tricky thing to do and you need to sit real still...if I even so much as nick your lung...it will collapse!" You ever try to supress a cough?!!! They run a big needle into my back...between my ribs...guiding it with the ultrasound imaging. They remove the needle and run a small piece of tubing ( about the diameter of a ball point pen ink tube...into the needle hole. Damn...I could sure use a smoke about now ! I could just see my wife out of the corner of my eye...she was white as as the walls. After a bit they nurse tells me to hold very still as they go to remove the tube. When they get done I turn around. Sitting there on the surgical table is a FULL one litre bottle of the yuckiest greenish fluid you can imagine !!! Back to my room to watch a hospital video on the rooms TV. All about Congestive Heart Failure. THE WIFE and I are looking at each other with the 'deer in the headlight' look! Turns out that's what I had... Congestive Heart Failure. Furthermore...the Doctor explains that he is willing to bet that that rib I thought I pulled last week...was in fact a Mild HEART ATTACK ! Tonight Friday 17th. I am back home now. I sit here typing this to post on a few forums I visit...knowing the damn cigerette I just rolled is gonna be my last. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life...and there will be no more cigarettes in my life. I just took 5 of my 9 new heart meds. Getting ready for bed...smoking a cigarette.....praying I wake up in the morning !!! * Update Saturday Morning June18th Woke up to the sounds of our new puppies barking and whining wanting to go outside. Let the puppies out ...poured a cup of coffee...came back in here...threw all my cigarette stuff in a trash bag and took it out to the trash can. Today I am washing everything in my room to get rid of the cigarette smell !! Then I am gonna work on more of my train stuff !!! Day One of the rest of my life !! FREE !!! * Not suggesting anyone quit smoking or any other such thing. Just relating my experience for the month so far. The doctor said talking about it is good therapy!! Thnxs for reading...carry on. .
George, first congratulations on giving up the smoking. Second, yeah this should probably go to the Cattle Car, but I'm not the Mod for the job. My older brother just had the same thing happen to him in April. He smoked cigars. I'm sure a lot of people here will say "Well gee George if you have asthma why did you smoke?" People need to remember, it wasn't that long ago that smoking was common in Hospitals, public places, planes, trains, the list goes on. It wasn't until the mid 1980's that the anti smoking really heated up. Why do/did people smoke? It was relaxing. It was a different time. George, stay strong, and if you feel an urge to smoke, eat some dark chocolate, or think about what happened at the hospital. We're pullin for ya.
You Can Do It Hey Bud, You can do it. I was a pack and a halfer and quit 6 years ago. My secret weapon was the patch. I will say quitting WILL SUCK. But in a month or two you wont even think about smokes. Supportive family will help you even if it's just staying out of your grumpy way. YOU WILL DO IT!!! Dan
Praying for you here, George. I've never smoked or drank, but years of overeating have taken their toll and I'm going through some similar health issues. And I'm only 42! Time to change everything. And I must say that reading this board is certainly a stress squasher. Thanks TB-ers!
Right on, George. Keep it up! I have been dropping pounds myself (I had them to drop) and I'm feeling more energetic all the time.
George, I am so glad you got to seek help before it was too late. You have a great attitude for success. I wish you well in your efforts!
George, I'm very happy to hear that you still have T.H.E. LIFE, and are able to stay with T.H.E. WIFE. We're here for you my friend, and happy to be able....:thumbs_up:
Congratulations! I wish my dad could have quit... maybe he'd still be here. He died at 62 from his fourth heart attack... had smoked 30-50 cigs a day for longer than I can remember. He'd be here now helping my desolder my track I'm seperating into blocks... I learnt my computer, electronics, and train skills from him
Congrats, and stay strong, brother. Just fight that urge by reminding yourself; for every time you DON'T smoke, it's more time here on the green earth playing with TRAINS. :thumbs_up: (I was a massive overeater and started having symptoms like yours at 16. Needless to say, by the time I was 18 I had realized it was a one-way ticket to a shallow, large grave. Better off now by far, but I still fight it every damn day......)
I quit a pack-and-a-half a day habit 12 years ago cold turkey, so you can do it too. I know it's not the same for everyone, but I think it does come down to the degree of resolve you have to do it. You have every reason to succeed, so you will!
Great to hear you quit George. I know from personal experiance how hard it is to quit drugs. (Smoking ranks right up there with heroin )(no I didn't do heroin, but it was something just as bad ) It's going to get tough , but if you really want it, you CAN do it. I know THE Wife will help, and if you are so inclined, THE Lord will also help if you ask. It CAN BE DONE. I'm going on 2 1/2 years myself being drug free, so hang in there.....Mike
Atta' boy George. We've never met, but you can do it. I quit cold the day my son was born 19 years ago. If you feel the urge, jump on this board and we'll get you through it. My best to you and yours, CG
cograts on quitting. i found out it was easier to quit drinking than smoking you could smoke anywhere then. good luck keep it up use your sin money for trains i did!!! jack
A very valuable lesson you teach us. Think of all the trains you'll be able to buy now that you aren't spending that money on tobacco.
George,thank you so much for sharing that story.you just inspired me to quit smoking! please keep us posted and let us know how your doing..
George - I started to read your post, and by the time I was halfway down I wanted to scream STOP SMOKING THE CIGARETTES:tb-ooh: I personally have never smoked but I know plenty who do. My dad smoked all his life until the last 15 or 20. I think he lived the last 15 or 20 because he quit. I think it's one of the greatest addictions known to man, but I also know quitting can be done. Like anything else, it is done one small step at a time, one day at a time. Best of luck to you!
Golly George! You about gave me a heart attack reading this! Its good to hear everything is calmed down a bit. Best of luck on the new smoke free lifestyle! I myself was a packadayer my first few years after high school. Met a pretty girl who said she wouldn't date a smoker, and that was it. All ya need is a good reason and a strong mind. :thumbs_up: Also, a few cases of Pepsi! Got a craving? Have a Pepsi!
This part sound like it may be a good thing!!!:tb-err: Glad you are off the cigs. I watched my dad die from them for four years of what you decribe at the beginning. I , on the other hand WILL tell people to stop smoking!!! Glad you are doing well in your newly tuned body!! Mike
Seriously, isn't t like 6 bucks a pack now? 3 packs worth would get you a nice railcar these days. Good luck on staying off the cigs, I am pullin for ya.
George,I haven't smoke since my stroke in 2005-six years ago. Glad to hear you are giving those nasty things up however,I will warn you if you was a heavy smoker this may happen. There are times I want a cigarette so bad it hurts..The good news is this passes within 2-3 seconds and thankfully only happens weeks or months apart...You see nicotine is a powerful drug that bounces back by a trigger object like a conversation,a friend that smokes,playing computer games,watching a favorite movie etc times you would normally fire up a smoke. However,every time you think about firing up a smoke remember your 9 heart pills your current health status and how cigarettes help put you there and what the grand prize if you return to smoking..A casket. I have a excellent reminder the limited use of my once dominate right hand and my four 4 breathing treatments . Of course think of this..Every carton of cigarettes equals more train stuff,a short railfan trip or maybe a dinner for you and your sweetie. Stay true to the course and smoke free.
