Leaderboard

G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.... (replace Ever with Min Hour Day as required!)

NOPE!

NOPE

NOPE...

Some background: Lots of smokers in my family...two of my close cousins recently gone from cancer/heart issues (both long-time smokers), another one (long-time smoker) lost his larynx (throat cancer) and now breathes through a stoma in throat - luckily, he was able to learn to speak by swallowing air but his voice is very different now!) Both my parents were long-time smokers and eventually each lost a lung to smoking. Dad made it to 61 after his surgery but his quality of life after losing the lung was not too good for his last 7 years due to complications from the surgery. Had to retire early. 33 years ago, this month, was the anniversary of his death. My Mom was diagnosed a year or so after my Dad died and psychologically she had a very hard time dealing with the loss of Dad, loss of her lung and quitting smoking. She also retired early. Over the ensuing years since the removal of her lung, she was diagnosed early stage COPD, had 2 strokes (no lasting damage from either one) and a double heart bypass (CABGx2) after a heart attack. She was able to recover and is still here with us, although she now suffers from Parkinson's disease (last 10 years or so) and macular degeneration (she is vision-impaired now) (smoking related?) which is taking its toll on her. We (her 5 children) were fortunate to be able to keep her at home with home health aides for 9 hours per day/7 days a week. She had a fall a few weeks ago and started hallucinating so had to make a trip to ER. She is currently in a nursing home/rehab and we now have to consider that she may have to become a permanent resident there. Due to Covid-19, we can only visit her once a week by appt, have to have bring proof of a neg Covid-19 test with us. She will be 87 next week. All very stressful, as you can imagine..... Yes, while all of the above was going on with my parents and cousins I still kept puffing away...but my day was coming! What has smoking cost me? Smoking has done a number on my health along with others in my family . In early 2017, 70% stenosis in my left carotid artery which caused an ischemic stroke which occurred while at work (fully recovered now). Received a stent in neck. After much testing to see what other damage I might have done to myself with 40+ years of smoking - CT Scans revealed first stage of emphysema (told to stop smoking immediately and no further damage, cardiac intervention revealed blockages to cardiac arteries told needed a bypass which would happen immediately-I wasn't allowed to leave hospital!). In early 2018, underwent a CABGx3 - which means having a triple bypass to avoid having a massive heart attack. Surgeon initially thought I might need a CABGx4!! I got lucky "only needed a CABGx3" ! I was able to return to work after a 3 month cardiac rehabilitation program. I retired in early 2019.... On a lighter note: Had my exercise/nuclear stress test last week along with an echocardiogram this week and my cardiologist is very pleased with my progress...won't have to return to his office for 6 months for normal followup. My thoughts: It's important not to put your head in the sand if you have been a long-time smoker...bad things could be going on in your body and you have little or no symptoms. Get an annual checkup and stress test. Ask for a referral to a pulmonologist and get a baseline low-dose lung ct scan! I am so glad I did those things.... It took me 3 tries to finally quit smoking, spread out over a 25 year span. 1st time was cold-turkey...lasted one month, 2nd time was hypnosis...lasted 6 months and the 3rd time was through sheer terror at finding out what smoking had done to me and now my chest was going to be cut open (along with NRT and finding an online no smoking support group that is no longer around (QSMB) and eventually here at QTrain...been quit over 3 1/2 years now! Never thought I would be able to do it yet here I am...enjoying my freedom from that nasty addiction. Hardest thing I have ever done but sooo worth it!! Here's to carrying on and being smoke-free!

NooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooPE

Nope!!

NOPE

NOPE!!!!!!

NOPE!

N to the O to the P to the E!

^Oh look it's the royal carriage for the Redneck King........

NOPE

No that's what they wrapped him in as a baby, thus the name

This is tough reading Roz ... Thank you for your honest post .... This addiction has effected so many ....I'm sending a Hug ❤

Oh !!!!....So we have moved from a canoe to this new sex machine...I like your thinking ...

NOPE...

NOPE!!!!!!

NOPE!

Imagine trying to pitch Hansel and Gretel as a children's movie today. Yeah, so, there's these two kids, brother and sister. Their parents collude to abandon them in the woods. Out in the woods they are kidnapped by a witch. The witch tries to fatten them up before throwing them in the oven...did I mention that the witch is also a cannibal? You would be escorted out of the building by security.

Who's Ryan Reynolds? Is he part of the family that makes that rolled aluminum foil stuff?

G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.... (replace Ever with Min Hour Day as required!)

Showing off the new set of wheels I bought this morning. I don't own a top hat or cummerbund, but you know I have style when I roll up...

In the top right hand corner of the page, next to the messages and notifications indicators, there is a customizer button. One of the options is to enable the "sticky author panel." It's of no real importance. I was just looking to make a cheap joke and hypocritically point my finger at the rest of you and say that you're all a bunch of perverts. Sugar Britches is watching some awards show on television and Maddie is sleeping. So, I'm just goofing around on the internet for a bit...pay me no mind.

I was just checking out the customizer function on the new look page. Who are all of these "sticky authors" we have here? Do I even want to know why they are sticky?

Never heard of the guy - Canadian eh? Hope he's a damn site better than the other two you mentioned lol!

AKA

Welcome!

I wonder if Ryan Reynolds kisses as good as he looks

2. Dye curtains with it (That's a clue for our @Mac#23 since he seems to love curtains so much)

Thanks a lot Martian5 , Yes it was a very difficult journey in the beginning I am very happy these days that i gave up smoking

OK 20

Watching an LMN movie and the girl is singing 'Rockabye Baby' to her unborn child and realizing just how frucked up that song is. The baby falls out of a tree, cradle and all!

Welcome aboard, @Oona! You have come to the right place...read all you can here about nicotine addiction and watch the Joel videos. Knowledge is power and will help you immensely as your quit continues. Vent away if necessary! Congrats on your almost 3 1/2 week quit!

For me, I look back from time to time to remind myself how pathetic of an addict I was, how it actually took a lot of enjoyment out of my life. It really helps me to get over those cravings easily when I reflect back. This nasty addiction had controlled my life for almost 40 years. Anywhere I went I had to worry about where/when I can smoke, it took a lot of enjoyment out of all those family vacations, celebrations, events, parties, even business trips, etc. Not only that, my wife and kids hate smoking, I'm sure they were disappointed every time I sneaked away for a smoke, sadly addicts have no dignity! Yes, Smoking was extremely costly for me (much more than just the money). Now I'm really looking forward to my next family vacation where I can enjoy spending the entire time with my family without worrying about where/when to smoke, but we won't be able to go anywhere for awhile due to the pandemic...

Sorry about your dad dying so young! Mine did too but probably not from cigarettes. It took my mom via COPD. It's too bad we don't understand the true cost of smoking when we're young.

Great news for the company in these uncertain times ...

The United States Census Bureau should probably screen their employees better. Had a conversation earlier with a lady who was confused as to why I listed two residents in the house back in April but today listed three residents in the house. I told her my baby daughter was born in June. "What relation is the baby to you?" I just told you...Daughter. "Does she pay rent?" She's two-months old, she doesn't understand the concept of money. "Is she Hispanic?" If she was, me and Sugar Britches would need to sit down and have a talk. I'm calling bullstuff on that old saying "there's no such thing as a stupid question."

@reciprocity and here I was thinking Ryan Reynolds was the Canadian Hemsworth. I dunno I reckon anytime not Canadian played the bieber or Celine card you could just go..."Ryan Reynolds" and rest your case.

1. Use it to water your plants! Let it cool off first!

G’day Nup to small.....