Stop Smoking Support Thread
Comments
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Hi Karen - How are you doing these days with the adult "binky"? I know mine has been a godsend. Getting kinda nervous about my appt with the PS in the morning. This is a consultation appt. I have a long list of questions. This appt should help me decide if I am going to have recon in April.
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Jo,
Hopping in your pocket for tomorrow!! Hope all of your questions are answered to your satisfaction and you get the go ahead for your reconstruction!!
Galsal....
Yeah on over 1 MONTH!!! I was a twizzler girl too!! I used the regular black ones rather than the strawberry as I love the real licorice flavor (although it is artificial flavoring... lol).... Also had a big ole bag of Jolly Rancher candies that I would have if I got too rough of a craving.... and no fair chewing...lol!0 -
Bama and Karen, Always glad to hear from you!
To the people are new... There is a online service that you can sign up for and they don't require a bunch of personal info... They will send you a e-mail every month with an encouraging message as well as your personal stats... Since, in the beginning my DH and I agreed a certain percent of money that I would have spent on cigarettes but didn't, was mine to spend that e-mail helped me to track my savings....
Anyway... Here's a portion of the email that I got a couple of days ago just a bit over 2 years since I quit... I STILL look at the numbers and am amazed!!
Time Smoke-Free: 760 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes and 51 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 15215
Lifetime Saved: 3 months, 26 days, 5 hours
Money Saved: $7,305.600 -
Ooopppps,
I never said what the web site was...... It is quitnet.com......0 -
Hi Jo and Seaside, glad to be back, still carrying my adult binky, it's pulled me out of some tough times lately and the gum chewing is out of control! It's funny that Bama, Jo, me, Seaside, Barbara, VJ and o2bhealthy are the old crew now with 3 new women actively quiting and one thinking seriously about it. Seems like it was decades ago that I quit and then yesterday. Am not sleeping with the binkie though Barbara, so I am making progress. Wish I had a picture of that!! hugs, Karen Jo, I hope this PS is tops in the field - I know you will have really great questions for him, he better have the right answers, I'll jump in your pocket too and just tap that pocket and Seaside and I will be standing by you. love, Karen
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Wow! A pocket party! I will be sure to wear something with lots of pockets. My appt is at 11:00 and then lunch on the way back to work. Will check in when I get back.
Karen- Can't believe I am now in the old crew - some days it seems just yesterday I quit - better yet, can't believe I have managed to stick with it. After all, I live with a smoker and both my assistant managers are smokers.
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(((((JO))))- hoping in your pocket too!
Seaside, Karen and Bama - Hi!!!!
Welcome newbies!!
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well-- still smoke free!!!!!!!!!!! feeling very special if i do say so myself!!!!!
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Every single one of us deserves kudos!
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Just dropping by with an "attagirl". I wish I'd had Seaside's calculator, but I'll estimate. I'm down the road 4 years, 7 months, one week and I no longer count the hours. Used Chantix, walking, lots of water, gum & sunflower seeds in the shells. You are all doing great. Hang in there. If you slip - just climb back on. I'm cheering for all of you.
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iwurn and galsal, kudos to our non-smokers - feels good to say that doesn't it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Awesome, MINUSTWO!
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iwurn & galsal - Way to go! Keep it up.
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Thinking of you this morning, Jo!!!
Pop in when you can to let us know how things went!0 -
Waiting on you, Jo hugs, Karen
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(((jo)))
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I'm Back!!!! I could not believe it. As soon as I walked in the door and signed in I was taken to a room and the PS appeared. The appt went great - he answered all my questions and then some. I am going to have to go back and see my MO to reschedule my mammo which I was supposed to get in June the week before I see him for my 6 month followup. The PS wants one done before the surgery for a baseline. In the future, I will not be able to have mammos on that side - will have to get MRIs instead.
So ladies. Here is the plan. Get mammo done. When I see my GP next month, get the surgical clearance. Once the PS has all this, I will call schedule the surgery. I am anticipating sometime at the end of April.
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Dear Jo, YAY< a knowledgeable doctor and on time too. I love it Jo, you always have the plan in place, just like you did for quiting smoking. So glad he was able to answer all your questions, and lay out the scheduling for you. That is when your job gets a tad easier doesn't it? When the birdies fly back home, I hope so! hugs, Karen
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Karen, Yes, I do have to wait for the residents to go home. After Easter, this place will be a ghost town. My next step is to see my MO on Wed for mammo scheduling and the GP in about 3 weeks. Time is going to fly by.
Thanks for all your encouragement and support
Hugs
Jo
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Jo,
Great news and how exciting!! April is right around the corner and will be here before we know it! So glad that you quit smoking and now can look forward to reconstruction without having to worry about quitting smoking!
Karen,
Yep... We are now all "oldbies"... Who would have thunk...lol!!! This thread had been quite active in 2009 and had had kind of dwindled. When I first quit and started posting here (Feb 2010) there were just a very small group of us trying to quit and helping each other...
Back then our O2B, even though she's so young, was 'my oldbie' ! She had, at that time, 9 months under her belt when I didn't even know how I was going to get through day 9.. All I knew was I hoped some day to be there! She would pop in to offer encouragement that it can be done and I remember looking for her post and being just thrilled if it contained a shout out to me! Michelle, never told you that before but, Thank You!!!! I went back and read some of my first posts and it was a real walk down memory lane... Starts around page 77 in this thread...lol
MinusTwo,
You will never know who you will help with your words of encouragement! We so appreciate you stopping in and showing that long term quitting is possible! Do an estimate on how much you saved by not smoking all those years! I guarantee you will be amazed!
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beegee, Jap62, Galsal, mrkff11 and Kim...
I hope things are getting easier for you all!!! It can be a bit rough in the beginning but, I will guarantee, if you stay with it, it DOES get easier...
I know what you're thinking... easy for me to say, and truthfully, when I first started out, I would have slapped the lips off someone who said that to me (good thing you don't know where I live...lol). BUT... it is the honest truth!
You are doing so well! Post when you need to!!
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I remember being so thrilled when you or o2b would give me a shout out, that first week I posted everyday and one of you or Barbara would say something to "shore" me up. Now I'm an oldbie, who would have thunk it!, surely not me.
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Karen - Wow! That is how I feel when I see that you have posted. Always get that little thrill cuz I know you are always full of encouragement and support.
Just an update. My MO's office called and I won't have to see him on Wed. He wants to stay on schedule for June. The nurse just rescheduled my mammo from Jun till Mar 20th. To catch up next year, I will have to wait 14 months and that is okay - I don't think an extra 2 months is not going to hurt anything. So, I am appt free until Mar 13th when I see the pain specialist again. Yea! To a clear calendar.
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Jo,
I have entered the time of year that seems to be endless appointments and tests so totally get that feeling of gratitude when it is done and I get just a few weeks/months of peace! Whatever did we do with our time before all this craziness hit us upside the head??0 -
Seaside, I enter that scan, mammo, MO time in April and it seeems that the thinking of our cancer is so totally present. Before this crazy merry-go-round we worried about petty things that don't phase us anymore, we simply lived our wondeful lives till it all came crashing down. Now we live with NED for those months in between appts. hugs, for all of us, Karen Jo, what a lovely thing to say, you touched my heart. Love those clear calender months too.
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Karen - And I meant every word. Welcome!! Besides, you and I seem to be in the same place with out not smoking and using the e-cig. It is whatever gets us through this mess.
Before BC I had so few appts each YEAR. GP every 3 months due to high BP & cholesterol, Gyn and mammo once a year - that was it. Now is a much different story. The PS and everything associated with it - appts, surgery, followup, prep, etc is of my choosing. In the big picture, they are really a very small piece.
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Karen,
That is why this thread holds a special place in my heart.... It is a place where no one judges and each and every one of us who were helped in the past truly 'pays it forward' to help those that come after them! It is so cool to see the progression and makes my heart glad!0 -
Seaside,
I totally agree with you. The big plus is there is no arguing. That happens on some of the threads and is just breaks my heart. I am so glad I found this thread.
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Seaside & all: As for estimating the savings of quitting - I still do it every single time I go into a store. Oh, gee, this costs $10.00 - hum, that's only 2 packs of cigarettes (in Texas at the time) or gee, one more day not smoking so... Guess I can buy this pair of pants, or book, or T-bone steaks, or ... Now I have to figure out how to stop comparing every purchase to a pack of cigarettes and STOP shopping. But truly, I'm having fun buying all sorts of things I never could afford. Just one more benefit. As an aside, my first husband got outraged and quit smoking when cigarettes went over $0.35 per pack back in the day. Didn't I see packs are $10.00 in NYC?
Ladies - Seaside's right. Start a fund to count your saving. These days, that's a considerable amount.
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Great news Jo!! You go MinusTwo!! Karen it seems like yesterday when we were all trying at the same time. But we did it!
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