Stop Smoking Support Thread
Comments
-
Lahela - welcome! Don't fret, we were all long time smokers as well. Enjoy the smokes now because once you quit, it will be a whole different angle. A lot of us can't stand the smell of smoke, or can't imagine why we smoked as long as we did, etc., etc. The list goes on. We will be here with you, encouraging every step and milestone!
0 -
Lahela,
I had the same reconstruction. Try to quit for even longer. My PS said 8 week minimum. I had 9 weeks. He even nicotine tested me at pre op to make sure. You do not want to take a chance with this surgery. We will help you every step of the way. Stay close okay? You can do this!!!0 -
I'm still willing to send a free copy of my e-book "Tips to Win at Quitting Smoking" to anyone on this site. I just need an email address. Free, no spam, no strings. Have a joy filled day, VJ
0 -
VJ, nice to see that you are still there to help those who need a friend!
0 -
Why the heck do I want a cigarette, and where is everyone? I won't have one, but I actually felt the urge.
0 -
Beckers - thanks for keeping us honest. There are days I want to smoke too. Played dominoes today with a 35 year old who is wearing a patch for the 2nd time as she tries again.
0 -
Hey Beckers, that first urge. It gets you but you can shake it .... I think our little bodies say "hey" but our mind said "stupid". MinusTwo, how are you holding up?
0 -
Hi Judi! How are you?
0 -
Well - the computer ate my post I guess.
Beckers & Judi: Hanging in there. Thanks for asking. The SEs from chemo#5 are kicking my butt so I'm not thinking about smokes.
To everyone else - you can do it. Just one day.
0 -
Oh no minus two! Is chemo real hard? I dodged that one. Are you able to work?
0 -
Hi ladies, hope is everyone is holding up? MinusTwo, chemo sucks. I'm lucky Rebecca, dodged that one but my brother went through it. Is there a hump day for you? How many more do you have to go? Keep thinking of the end. Rebecca, I doing good. I'm so busy at work - 2 weeks of my life that I will never get back. I'm off to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia on Tues. August 7th for 2 weeks .... so looking forward to relaxing. Hoping to take the clipper down to Seattle .... never been and I really would like to go. There are days I want a smoke but the thoughts are fleeting. How are you on the urges .... settled down at all? Have you had any holidays?
0 -
I have the urge again. Opted for vino instead :-) had a coworker go off on me today. Wild. Havent had to deal with something to this extreme in my professional life. So...in true fashion, my brain thinks smoking is the answer. Sux! Glad you are going somewhere relaxing. I've had a few long weekends. Nothing major. Could use one for sure!!
0 -
Oh Rebecca, I hear you. Is there a full flippin moon. I had a co-worker go off on me yesterday. I thought I could punch the guy out .... now really Judi, what are u thinking. But it peed me off so much that today, after I've had many hours to cool off, that he sucked right up to me. I'm a bigger person, so I didn't let him know how much he peed me off. Do you remember how good those smokes felt when we were in these situations. Now really, did it make us feel better. Beckers, hold off. We've come too far to allow this to happen to two beautiful ladies ... or sexy chicks, in my case, maybe a "cougar". I haven't had a long weekends so this trip will be good as long as I keep my cool .... not my house - my nieces, so I'm not in charge. Yikes!!!!!!! Oh well, there is always hotels. Plan something nice for yourself Beckers, you deserve it! By the way, MinusTwo, hope today was better for you!
0 -
Judi & Beckers: So glad you moved past the idiots at work w/o punching them out. Also another milestone that you didn't smoke. I'm hanging in there ad far as chemo with supposedly one one more 4 cocktail infusion to go - then down to 2 cocktails for a year. Thanks for asking.
Reading a novel written in 1951. Everyone smokes all the time. I remember when you could smoke in movie theaters - not to mention airplanes & the Greyhound bus. One more reason it's a good thing to quit - there's no place to smoke anymore.
0 -
Omg, I wanted to kick his ass so bad! Ha! I didn't even look at him today. He disgusts me. Two men have ever been that disrespectful to me. I divorced one and the other was on methamphetamine. Did not smoke through it all. Where is everyone? April, Braids, Lisa, Lisa, Shawntez???
0 -
Can we hab some BC friendly estrogen in da HTL?
Signed,
Missing My Ovaries!!!!!0 -
Beckers, you are too funny! Not missing my ovaries but I was lucky .... already past menopause when bc hit. But I have to tell you, it really weighed on my mind today to have a smoke. It's getting harder!
0 -
Hi ladies. I hope you don't mind my popping in. I've been following this thread for a while but have been too embarrassed to chime in. I was able to quit for six weeks at the beginning if my treatment. I quit the day before my port surgery And my lungs felt so bad when I woke up from surgery and in the following days that it scared me straight... For a while. I was sure I would be so sick during chemo that I couldn't envision myself smoking. But as it turned out it wasn't that bad and I began crazy rationalizations on why it was ok to smoke a few here and there, before I knew it I was just a smoker again. I kept giving myself deadlines of certain amounts if time before surgery that I would really really quit. Those have come and gone and this past Tuesday when I got my surgery date I said these six I have left in the pack will be it. I bought another pack that evening since that day was already ruined anyway and said whatever I smoked that day would be it. I couldn't sleep that night so I got up and finished the pack and said that would be it. I went back to bed and sobbed for an hour straight. I think if I admit to myself that I really must quit it lets the reality sink in that I really have cancer and am about to wake up from surgery with no breasts. During chemo when I started again it was the only thing I was doing that felt normal. I know I have to but am having such a hard time letting go. I don't know why I can't get my butt in gear. I'm smoking now as I type this. But this really must be the last pack. DIEP is my only recon option. Which is still many months away so I know I must but I feel so scared. Scared of quitting, how stupid does that sound? For now. I have 8 days until bmx and that scares the heck out if me too. I think you are all amazing women for being so strong.
Minustwo, I can relate to the book thing. Watching Mad Men during my quit time was excruciating!0 -
Welcome Delerium! Don't worry we have all done, felt, said, all of the above. It is not easy, at all. I will say, if you can hang in there and tough it out no matter what happens, or what your head tells you, it will get easier. Yes, as you may have read here recently there are moments when you still want one. Stay close. We are here to support you. I used patch and ecig (our binky) to help quit and it made it easier than other times. Wishing you the best with upcoming surgery.
0 -
Welcome delerium! I have to tell you that when I read your post and you said "you were smoking as you were typing", I tried to visualize it and smell the smoke. Once a smoker, you are always a smoker. I'm 2 1/2 years not smoking but everything you are saying, we all felt whether we had bc or not. I remember going to a Christmas day event and knew I was the only smoker. I tried to think "maybe I can quit before I go". We've all said it, but stress yourself only about one thing. The stress you are going through with the bc is enough that trying to quit and stressing about that is making you a nervous wreck. Maybe now is not the time to quit but you are on the right road .... on your mind. I remember smoking and thinking of quitting and did exactly what you did. Smoke them all in an evening then went and bought more. You are no different then all of us. But when you do go over to "the other side" you will notice that the smoke smell is terrible. I was at the drug store yesterday, and the manager came in from break. I smelt it right away and thought, ugh did I smell like that. Take it one step and one hour or one day at a time. As Rebecca said, we are all here to walk right beside you!
0 -
Hi all, don't know how I tripped over this thread but it's made for some interesting reading, lol.
Delerium, we all know that it's bad for us and all of us made excuses why we couldn't quit. Hey, how many times did each of us try before we finally succeeded? I'm so glad you made the comment that "it's the only thing I was doing that made me feel normal". Even though it's bad for us, I think it is harder for us because you're right. With all the craziness of cancer, it is what makes us feel normal!
You'll know when you're good and ready and it will just happen. I had a friend that read Allen Carr's book, "Easy Way to Stop Smoking" and used it to quit. You can also get it on Kindle. I quit by eliminating my triggers. No smoking in the car - never taking a pack with me. No smoking at work and never taking a pack with me. The hard one was at home when relaxing. Finally set a due date and got rid of even the left overs so I wouldn't be tempted to dig through the garbage or a drawer to get at them. You will eventually do it and you're right - it does take courage. I was so afraid to quit because I was afraid to fail so I just kept smoking.
Keep at it and be blessed!
Sue
0 -
Thank beckers, Judi and sue for the encouraging words. I have two left from the same pack I was on last night. Not bad, for me anyway. For this moment, saying that's it! Must admit it made me was to look and only see that many left. But I have always gotten panicky when I only have a few left, even when not facing that those are the last few ever. I go for ct tomorrow. Thinking I should save one of these for after drinking the nasty contrast. It's so nice on the patio right now though. Uuighgghh. I wish I didn't enjoy it so much! Sorry I probably shouldn't talk about patios in front of you gals. Thanks again for the support. I hope y'all have a nice end of the weekend.
0 -
hello everyone....i also am a smoker and until bc happened to me i didn't want to quit because i honestly didn't believe i could. i read here in this thread that chemo will only work 39% if i do not quit. i have cut down but have not quit yet. i am on day 3 of chantix and praying it will work. no one around me smokes and i know they cannot understand how hard it is to quit. i hate having that shame on top of everthing else. anyone here use chantix to quit? i also have an ecig.
thanks for listening
0 -
Love & Delirium: Chantix is what worked for me - But you must eliminate the trigggers first. I stopped smoking in my house. Two weeks later I stopped smoking in my car. Two weeks after that I started the Chantix. Every time I wanted a smoke, I literally ran out of the house on a walk. Believe me, I was walking most of the day and I kept that up for 4 years (until my 1st BC was diagnosed). For quite some time I refused to go drinking - or even drink at home - another big trigger. After a year I was able to walk out & visit w/the smokers w/o feeling deprived (or depraved??)
Milehigh - I admire you for quitting w/o the aid of Chantix or patches or e-cigs. I couldn't have done it w/o Chantix.
So glad to see some new folks joining our thread!! Remember - Rome wasn't build in a day. Once you manage to stop, "just one more day" is a good motto.
0 -
Welcome love wins. I'm glad you found us. Quitting is not easy. Definitely get some tools to help ease the cravings so it's easier. Stay close. I'm about to fall asleep so have to get going but hoping for the best for you quitting!!!
0 -
It has been almost 2 weeks since I went cold turkey - surgery date was sooner than anticipated! I've been bitching at DH a lot, but he's okay with that. I'm telling myself I'll see what happens when I'm six weeks out from surgery and the PS gives me the all-clear... I hope I'll be able to say "no", but right now I need to believe it's not "never". Makes me cry.
0 -
Welcome to the new ladies! Keep going, it's hard but you can do it. For me, I thought smoking or "cancer", which one. I truly loved smoking and believe me, if I didn't get cancer I would still be smoking. But the big thing for me was that they got the cancer but I had to go for a lung x-ray. I was flipin out - I was so scared. Really, is it worth it. For me it wasnt' but I know for others, it's not the reason to quit. We are all here for you one way or the other. Together, we should get it right! Ladies, off to British Columbia for holidays ..... so cheers!
0 -
What really sucks is that I'm just over a year quitting smoking and I find a small black bump inside my upper lip. Wouldn't that be icing on the cake if it is cancer! Ugh!
0 -
Oh Beckers - what a distressing discovery. Hope you have a regular derm doc as it takes so darn long to get appointments. Or maybe a really good dentist could put your mind at rest? We'll keep you in our thoughts & prayers. Please let us know.
0 -
For the newbies--I'm still offereing a free copy of my "Tips to Win at Quitting Smoking" e-book to anyone on this list. Just send me a PM with your regular email. No strings attached.
0
