Smoking

[Guest guest]

Hi

I know how difficult it is to quit smoking. Tomorrow February 4 it will be

13 years that I quit. Best thing I ever did and hardest. I could not believe

the difference it made for me. I did gain weight, but finally two years ago I

managed to take it off.

Take one day at a time. I will gladly be here for you, even if you want to

email me privately.

Barb

[Guest guest]

,

I smoked for many years but decided to quit cold turkey 8 years ago. It was one

of the best decisions I ever made. I took it one cigarette at a time - I simply

said, " I don't need THIS cigarette " . I didn't worry about the cigarette after

that. I also told myself that if I fell off the ladder and had a cigarette it

wouldn't mean I couldn't do it - it would simply be a stumble - and I wouldn't

use a stumble as an excuse to go back to smoking. I refused to give myself

permission to fail. It was tough, sure, but millions of people have done it and

I knew they were no better than I was. I took control away from my addiction

and it felt really good. There is also a lot of help out there but you have to

want to quit and mean it.

Good luck - you can do it!

Kathy F.

[Guest guest]

Hello All - My aunt (who does not have H-Rods) but does have severe DDD & needs fusion to correct has been a smoker for 25 years - Does anyone know how smoking affects the healing and fusing process??? (of coarse smoking is bad on several levels and she is trying to quit - any suggestions on this would also be appreciated) Thank you!! Ken.

New Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big.

[Guest guest]

Ken,

I believe it is pretty standard for our orthos to insist that the

patient be off cigarettes...for real....for a year before a surgery as

extensive as ours. Smoking interferes with fusion. If you go to PubMed

you can find the abstracts. She should quit now..not

tomorrow....today. Cam

[Guest guest]

Hi Ken...

Your aunt definitely should quit. If she really wants to do it,

she'll get it done, but she needs to be the one to make the decision.

There are quite a few medications and programs to help her along. I

quit about 20 years ago, and know it was absolutely the right thing to

have done.

Here are some good articles on the topic:

http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article834.html

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=324 & topcategory=Wellness

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=1\

1034645 & dopt=Abstract

Not to sound superior, but I honestly can't imagine why anyone would

even consider undergoing such a painful procedure, and then undermine

it by smoking.

Regards,

>

> Hello All -

>

> My aunt (who does not have H-Rods) but does have severe DDD &

needs fusion to correct has been a smoker for 25 years - Does anyone

know how smoking affects the healing and fusing process??? (of coarse

smoking is bad on several levels and she is trying to quit - any

suggestions on this would also be appreciated)

>

> Thank you!! Ken.

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> New Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC

and save big.

>

[Guest guest]

I stopped smoking 6 years ago last February after smoking for 38

years. When I finally quit, I tried everything out there. One thing

that I really felt helped me was the antidepressant, WellButrin. I was

on another anti depressant, Prosaic, at the time, but I stopped that

one and began WellButrin 2 weeks before my stop date. I set my date

almost 3 months ahead of time. I was so determined I actually had

dreams of NOT smoking before I quit. I bought nicorette gum (I didn't

use it) a tub of regular bubble gum which I chewed all the time. I got

stuck on hard candy for months. I drank a lot of ice water and I still

do even to this day. My roommate smoked at this time and offered to

only smoke in her room or outside, I said no. I felt I had to be able

to function in a smoking world. It was the hardest thing I have ever

done and the first week was by far the hardest. I went through spells,

none lasted more than 10 minutes when I felt I just had to have a

cigarette and then it would pass. Drinking a glass of water and

sucking on candy helped me get passed that. As others have said, if I

could do it, believe me YOU CAN DO IT TOO!! I do believe you have to

want to quit for yourself, no one else can talk you into it. You have

to feel inside that it is what you want. Good luck to all that are

going to stop the 20th of November. I know you CAN!

conniekay (Colleen)

[Guest guest]

Colleen,

Thanks for your support. I am proud of you for sticking to it. Way

to go!

Shirley

>

> I stopped smoking 6 years ago last February after smoking for 38

> years. When I finally quit, I tried everything out there. One thing

> that I really felt helped me was the antidepressant, WellButrin. I

was

> on another anti depressant, Prosaic, at the time, but I stopped

that

> one and began WellButrin 2 weeks before my stop date. I set my date

> almost 3 months ahead of time. I was so determined I actually had

> dreams of NOT smoking before I quit. I bought nicorette gum (I

didn't

> use it) a tub of regular bubble gum which I chewed all the time. I

got

> stuck on hard candy for months. I drank a lot of ice water and I

still

> do even to this day. My roommate smoked at this time and offered to

> only smoke in her room or outside, I said no. I felt I had to be

able

> to function in a smoking world. It was the hardest thing I have

ever

> done and the first week was by far the hardest. I went through

spells,

> none lasted more than 10 minutes when I felt I just had to have a

> cigarette and then it would pass. Drinking a glass of water and

> sucking on candy helped me get passed that. As others have said,

if I

> could do it, believe me YOU CAN DO IT TOO!! I do believe you have

to

> want to quit for yourself, no one else can talk you into it. You

have

> to feel inside that it is what you want. Good luck to all that are

> going to stop the 20th of November. I know you CAN!

> conniekay (Colleen)

>

[Guest guest]

Shirley and group;

You probably already read I am giving it another go. I was going to

wait till after Christmas, But since everyone has showed so much

compassion, I am going to try again after Thanksgiving.

I have quit before. I quit once when I was 20 for 2 years. I quit

again when I was 40 for about 5 years. It gets harder to quit each

time. I know I can guit. It's just so imbarrassing to say you are and

don't. No, I am not imbarrassed now. It was very hard to admit I

didnt make it but I made myself do the right thing.

You guys made me feel so much better. I am glad everyone didn't let

it go. I never expected this responce. I never expected a response

at all. I figured everyone would think, poor clora I won't say

anything she might feel bad. You guys are so sweet and kind. We may

have different opinions on many things but we are there for each

other.

Gentle kind hugs everyone

Clora

**********************************************************

>

> Clora,

> I have failed at many things that I have tried. Maybe if you could

> just drastically cut back, it would help next time you try.

>

> No one is disappointed with you. All ex-smokers know it is hard.

> Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

> Shirley

>