Newarcher Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Look, I know smokers don't like to be told to stop smoking or that it will kill them. So you won't hear that from me. Instead, I will just ask you to think about something. I have been visiting my mom this week. Not at home where I bring the grandchildren for an afternoon visit but at the hospital. She has pretty bad emphesyma. She always has had recurring bronchitis that probably existed hand in hand with the emphesyma. Now, she didn't heed her body's warnings towards the end of last week and didn't go to the doctor when she started getting a head cold. Over the weekend, she almost died. Infection set up in her lungs....be it pneumonia or bronchitis. No one else was home most of the weekend to notice and take her to the hospital. She is in complete denial and thinks that all she has is bronchitis. She has been given IV antibiotics for days now and is still wheezing but there may not be much that they can do to stop that. It appears she is on the downhill slide and the cruel part (which is weird to say) that could take days, weeks, months, or even years. As she stands now, she can hardly talk without taking a breath in between words and when she stands, she has to stand hunched over against something. We took her to the Biltmore house last Christmas and had to push her in a wheelchair and when she had to walk, she couldn't go more than about 20 steps. Granted, she had pneumonia at the time and we didn't know it. So pretty much, this is the situation. She is 62 years old and will probably be lucky to see 63. She is fully of sound mind and would love to be active and see her grandkids grow up and graduate high school and get married. So she doest't even have the luxury of an 'old' mind to sort of shield her conscousness from what is happening, she fully knows. I have no idea how long she will live with this but can guarantee one thing. She will end up suffocating to death like a fish that is taken out of water unless God sees fit to intervene and take her some other way or heal her. What I can say is that she has four grandchildren (18, 15, 7, and 3) that love her and two children (39 and 35) who love her that will get a ringside seat to watch her die. My two kids (the youngest two) will most likely never get to really know their grandmother and really haven't spent any significant time with her because she hasn't been healthy enough to spend any significant time with her. She is coming home today with a littany of puffers, nebulizers, and will be on oxygen 100% of the time that she will probably use 10% of the time. So I leave you with those thoughts. I am not going to tell you to quit smoking or anything like that. Rather I am going to leave you with a preview of what very well could or probably will happen to your loved ones if you don't stop smoking or using tobacco. Prayers would be appreciated because short of a miracle, I will have to watch this elongated nightmare with absolutely nothing that I cna do about it. That is a terrible feeling. I can't describe to you the feeling of watching your loved one smother when there is nothing you can do for them. I know that many of you smokers are young and I hear a lot of the typical comebacks from other young smokers.....'I will worry about cancer or empheysema later' or 'I will quit later' or even 'something's gotta kill me'. All things that my mom said many times over years ago and at that time disease from smoking seemed like something too far distant to be worried about. Now that she is 62 and facing the end of her life, it seems like a flash in the night sky. New Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look Good post for the youth in here to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look That is a good post to read. Im sorry to hear that. My dad smoked for years and years. A couple of years ago he had to have 6-bypasses. Not only can they do serious damage but they magnify anything wrong in your body. We have very thick blood and get clogged arteries very easy. Dad's cancer sticks compounded the issue. One of the guys here are work also just had part of his tongue removed due to cancer... The stuff in the can is just as bad for a lot of reasons... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvantageTimberLou Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look Thanks for posting that new, I am not a smoker and wish those who do would quit, if not for themselves for the ones around them. Its an addiction but so is loving your family and being there with them for as many years as God grants us to have on this planet Earth! Hope your mom gets better and can live many more years to spend with her family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IowaDeerHunter Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look Sorry to hear about that new! I will pray for your mom and hopefully a miracle will happen. Also, you will never see me smoking, just for this reason, I do not want to go through it and when something like this happens it affects the whole family, not just the person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look Something I did not know about how smoking affects the body until 3 weeks ago......... The doctor who did my back surgery said that smokers are 7 times more likely to have disc problems than non-smokers. Something about oxygen deprivation, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest outdoorgirl Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look I just printed your story and I will be giving it to my future mother in law who smokes and just went threw having a touch of pneumonia and the awful coughing and congestion that goes along with it...she told me the other day if her xrays come back normal then she can smoke again.....it just bothers me that she said that....she hasn't smoked for 3 weeks.....i think thats a great start to kicking the habit....I hope your letter hits home for her.......thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look I always found this interesting. Thank goodness I don't smoke!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look Sorry to hear. But that will keep my hands off cigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look Sorry about your mother New. Sure do wish my parents would quit, not only for their health, but because I just cannot stand being around smoke. My mother in law who died from cancer never would quit smoking, she continued on smoking even while she was on oxygen and on right up until she passed away. Really sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosierbuck Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look 62 is just not that old. What a waste of a life and all the potential therein. I feel for you and yours, New. Been there, and done that with slightly better results with my old man. HB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horst Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look its a hard habit to quit, I have buried 2 fairly young uncles and a Grandparent all dying from cancer in the last couple years.I continued to smoke through all the funerals knowing what killed them.If it wasnt for my kids Id still be smoking, but I didnt want them seeing what your watching right now happen.i quit about 10 months ago now I believe.Anyway, sorry to hear about your mom, Ive been through everything your going through now and it sucks bad, no better way to describe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doughboy1956 Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look Very sorry to hear that. Prayers sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VtBowhunter Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look I smoked for 14 years......2 packs a day and they were Marlboros......you know, "Cowboy Killers". I was about to turn 30 and felt like I was 60.......I said enough, and just quit. It's been 9 months, and I've never felt better. Instead of feeling 60, I feel like I should have felt at 20. Quit while you still can, and if you don't smoke, stay away from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvantageTimberLou Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Re: Smokers.....take a look [ QUOTE ] I smoked for 14 years......2 packs a day and they were Marlboros......you know, "Cowboy Killers". I was about to turn 30 and felt like I was 60.......I said enough, and just quit. It's been 9 months, and I've never felt better. Instead of feeling 60, I feel like I should have felt at 20. Quit while you still can, and if you don't smoke, stay away from them. [/ QUOTE ] That is great news, quit those cancer sticks! You know it is hurting your health when you have a hard time just making it to your treestand! All those smokers who are hunters, think of all the lost hunting trips to the woods in the future that would happen if your life is cut short due to being addicted to cigarettes and cancer taking your life!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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