Yes, PLEASE stop smoking, for yourself, your wife, and the rest of your family.
My father-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer in just this past October. They immediately put him on radiation and chemotherapy. In November, the doctor gave him a at most one year to live, if everything went WELL. I was told that 70% of lung cancer patients die within one year. On Christmas day, he was feeling particularly awful, so we loaded him up and took him to the hospital. They operated on him to remove fluid from the lungs. However, after the surgury, they were not able to get the infected lung to reinflate. They had him on a ventilator to keep him alive. Three times they tried to remove it, only to have to put it right back in. The rest of his body, while not great, is still kicking with no real problems. He's conscious, he can communicate, he's thinking fine. His lungs are dead. He was caught in between life and death - he's alive only because the ventilator was keeping him alive, and that's no life. On New Year's Eve, my mother-in-law made the decision to remove him from the ventilator. We were all there - his wife (53 years old), his daughter (my wife, 25 years old), his son (20 years old), myself, his sister, and her husband. We stood around him after they removed the ventilator and cried as his body gasped for air that his lungs could not provide. Somehow, he's managed to stay alive, and is even speaking a little. The doctors are surprised, we were all surprised, but the fact remains that his body is still broken with at most one lung at partial capacity. It's like watching a media stream where the incoming content is set at an extremely high bit rate and you're on dial-up. Only this is going to kill him. I do not know how long he will remain alive. I implore you, and anybody else who smokes, and cares about the family around him, to stop smoking. Quit cold turkey. Don't do it. Get the patch. Chew gum. Have your jaw wired shut. Just stop smoking. It is going to kill you before you want to die. It is not a death like you see in the movies - where someone gracefully passes away. It's ugly, and your family will be left far sadder than you'd ever expect. - Matt ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Ihrig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 6:07 PM Subject: Re: New Years Resolutions > get my pant waist to a solid 38 - or dream 36. > weight under 200 > > quit smoking > > stop drinking beer on school nights. > > o and have a baby.... > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Flash for programmers - Flash MX Pro http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=56 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:190300 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
