Nancy

NOPE!

So happy and proud for you, dear Jackie!!

congratulations, Joe! 10 months is awesome and so are you!

NOPE!

Someone mentioned "climbing the rope" in another thread...

Jeffrey, please post whenever you feel like it...sounds to me like you are making great progress. Good for you!!

Ahoy, me Mateys! Wishin' ye a grog-filled Friday!

No smoking for me!!

So happy for you, Tracey!! It is massive, and I will match Eileen with Carlton... who, by the way, is on Dancing with the Stars and can really dance! Love to you and Rez!!

You are my quit hero!! I know you will not smoke, but sorry you are having weeks from hell...

So happy for you, Sammie! Three weeks is wonderful!

Three months is a huge accomplishment!! Good for you!!

So happy for you. Holly! This is the one!!

I found this here. I have to have a cigarette, RIGHT NOW By tahoehal on November 26 2008 at 10:17 pm Picture yourself a second or two after you stub out that quit-breaking cigarette. The one that you just had to have because the craving was so strong you couldn't hold out any longer, when that voice inside you was saying.. "Go on, life sucks, you may as well smoke a cig.. y'know for your nerves.." or the other one.. "you've got this beat now.. you are in control.. you can have one just now and again.. go on have one for old time's sake.." So you bum a cigarette, and smoke it and in 2 and 1/2 minutes, you stub it out. Now what. Your mouth feels like crap. Your lungs are tightening up. You managed to stifle the coughs .. but barely. You began to squint again because the smoke hurt your eyes. and your fingers and clothes smell again. You either want to throw up, grab some mouthwash, take a shower, or have another.. maybe buy a pack. But then you realize what you've just done. After all those times when you said you were going to quit, and then when you finally did, and your family and friends were so happy for you - but not exactly over the moon, because after all they've been hopeful before only to see you relapse - all that enthusiasm is now smashed to pieces on the floor. And all the pressure that drove you to grab that cigarette in the first place - it's all still there. Nothing has changed, except now you've added one more problem: you just blew it. And then you realize what you've really done. You had invested days, maybe weeks and months, in this quit. You had made a great decision, one of the few things you really and truly felt proud of in your life, and you just blew it. You just blew the quit that you swore to yourself was the last one. You were so positive, so motivated, and encouraged, you were really on top of it, ahead of the game for once, you had taken control of your life and it felt like a whole new beginning.. and you just blew it. You look at that stub in the ashtray. The grey ash and the brown edge to the burnt paper, and the tar stain on the end of filter. You remember the thousands of cigarettes you have stubbed out and think about the tar that came into your lungs as smoke. And you think if smoking that one cigarette was worth it. Nothing's better. You feel a little dizzy now as the nicotine hits your body, even a little nauseous - certainly don't feel the pleasure that you remember the adverts and billboards were promoting during your early years as a smoker. In fact it's hard to remember any time when you felt that pleasure.. just another tobacco company lie.. They helped you to become an addict the first time, but when you smoked that cigarette after you quit.. well that was a whole new decision. You made that one all by yourself - there's no pointing fingers now, you know that cigarettes kill, so when you lit that one cigarette, the choice to smoke was all yours - no-one else to blame. And you just blew it. It wasn't worth it.. time after time the slippers' and relapsers' lament how they feel like crap, how ashamed they are, how they have lost confidence and hope, how they hate themselves, how much it hurts, how depressed and they cry and hide and cry some more. And now you are one of them.. the quit losers. Lost in the wilderness, not quite a smoker.. yet and not sure you are a quitter, searching for some dignity, some self-respect out of this. All because of that one cigarette. Because you blew it. WITH JUST ONE One Puff One Cigarette One Pack One Carton One Oxygen tank One Lung One Chemotherapy One Funeral One less. Hal 08-20-2004 A puff is too much, a thousand cartons are not enough.

Nope for me!!

I think NRT has helped many people...I just dislike the CVS advertising. I did not quit Cold Turkey...to me, whatever gets you quit...good for you, but I must say every way I turn, someone is profiting from the addiction... Lucky for us we are free!!

So happy for your one year...it might have been much worse if you were still smoking...hope the tests get it all sorted out quickly...

Seems like you had it nailed...

that was very cool...thanks for sharing!

I was just looking at the CVS website regarding their smoking cessation program, and was surprised at what I saw...they have you fill in a few blanks and then they rank your dependence on nicotine from 1 to 10. This is what they have to say about Cold Turkey: Quitting Cold Turkey Isn't Recommended Less than 5% of the 13 million smokers trying to quit each year will succeed. That's because your body physically craves nicotine. The cravings begin when your brain stops getting nicotine. And when your brain wants nicotine, it's hard to tell it no. It's for this reason that quitting "cold turkey" is often unsuccessful. According to one study, over 95% of "cold turkey" quitters start smoking again within 6-12 months. The most widely used method of quitting smoking is also the most misunderstood. Going it alone, or trying to quit smoking "cold turkey," means relying solely on your willpower to quit. Because nicotine is so addictive, people often underestimate how difficult it is to resist cravings simply using willpower. That's where nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, like Nicorette Gum, Nicorette Lozenge, and the NicoDerm CQ Patch can help. NRT products can ease your body safely off of nicotine by releasing controlled amounts of nicotine slowly, when used as directed. This allows you to focus on staying smoke-free without burning out your willpower. This material is paid for and provided by GSK Consumer Healthcare. And, needless to say, GSK is the company that manufactures Nicorette gum, lozenges, Nicoderm patches. Not really sure how I feel about this...bud did find it interesting...

So happy for you!! I got a new car last year after driving mine for 12 years and 160, miles...and it felt great!

Love the pics, Tracey...but may I be so rude as to ask...what in God's name is on your head in your new avi?

I found this online, here. A message from your body. (Repost) By tahoehal on November 03 2007 at 4:39 pm Insert your own name ......... and days of being smoke free x. Dear .......... It has been x days since you have quit smoking. You probably don't recognize me since you have been real busy for about x years. I am your body and I wanted to have a conversation with you. There are some things I need to tell you and share with you. You may need them now that you are recovering and I for the first time can express them. I am your lungs, your heart, your eyes, your liver, your blood, your skin and your mind. For x years, ......., you have been smoking and I have been unable to talk to you. It's not that there were times when I did not try, because I did. I sent you all sorts of signals to let you know I wanted to talk to you and you were not able to hear me. You passed it off as a morning cough or dizziness and whatever you were doing for all those years was too strong for me to fight. I have been waiting for this conversation with you for years. I must first tell you that we don't miss the smoke you filled us with. There were days when you were out, having a good time in the summer sun and I was too. I like the warm air and I even like the sun. But, ........, even on those wonderful days you would take the time to fill my lungs with smoke, my blood with carbon monoxide and my brain with nicotine. Every time I thought things were getting better and I was ready to talk to you there would be a burst of all these chemicals and I had to spend all of my energy, and YOUR energy, ......., on trying to keep you alive. I think you get the point now and I don't want to sound critical although I may have come off that way. What I really need to tell you is that for the past x days I have been working hard with the rest of your body ,to heal from a lot of years of neglect. I guess I want to say THANK YOU. Thank you, ......., for having the courage and the strength to quit smoking. If you have ever done anything right for me, by not smoking you have given me a new life. I need to tell you that it will take time for me to heal. You know how long you smoked, ........ It will take a bit of time to work with the lungs and the brain and the heart but IT WILL HAPPEN. Every cell in your body congratulates you... .... I need to warn you about something. One of the drugs that the brain thought it liked was Nicotine. That's a bad drug. It fooled me into thinking that I needed it. I never picked up a cigarette in my life and you made me addicted to Nicotine. Hey, I know it was not your fault! But there will be some difficulty the next few days and months. I, too, became addicted to that drug and it will take some time before I get rid of that. But I have a promise that I want to give you now that I can talk to you. If you promise to not smoke and to give this your very best shot, and I know how hard it is for you, I will reward you with more than great health, ........... And in time you will not only feel better but I will give you something that you thought you lost a long time ago. Remember your self-esteem and your image? Well I know who you are and I want you to know that I LOVE YOU. In time you will feel better and be so proud of what you accomplished-This I promise you. By the way! In this process of getting better we will be doing a lot of work inside. So please feed me and water me like you would if you were taking care of a beautiful Rose. It's time that you started to look after yourself with love, understanding and compassion as well; we like that too. Everything you give to me during this process I will reward you with tenfold. I believe in you, ....... I AM YOU. I KNOW you can do this. I don't want to have to wait another x years to have this conversation with you. Know that I love you and know that it is unconditional. It seem at times like I am working against you but know that I am working with you, .........., to heal US. Just for Today, ......., please do not smoke. Thank you for listening to me. I love you! Sincerely, Your lungs, heart, liver, blood, mind and skin and every living cell in you.

Bonnie, do you have any news? Keeping you and your daughter in thoughts and prayers...

(((Sarah))) You have accomplished so much! It is normal to be weepy sometimes, with such big changes. Be proud of what you have done...in both cases you have saved your life!