Giving Up the Cancer Sticks

When I was in high school there were a few of my friends who smoked.  I avoided them like the plague.  I did not like the smell of the smoke and I did not want my hair or clothes to smell like smoke.  I remember when I was in elementary school, my father smoked.  He was a serious chain smoker and back in those days he smoked in the house, the car, the garage, in public, wherever!  I always went to school smelling like smoke.  I remember my teachers questioning me several times over and over about me smoking.  I had to tell her many times, I did not....but my father did and that our house was filled with cigarette smoke and so was the car.  I remember opening the back sliding glass door at night and from the glare of the porch light against the inky sky, you could see smoke pouring out the house.  It was dreadful!  Finally after getting sick, he stopped but the damage was already done by then.  Heart disease had taken its toll, but he stopped.

Do you think that beating smoking is an easy thing?  It is not.  I know my father tried the gum and he actually enrolled in a health and wellness program at the local hospital that helped him stop.  He began to ride a bike, loose weight and he got healthier.  I do believe he added some years to his life.

In today's world there is so much more awareness about the benefits of NOT smoking and so many things to help you achieve your goal.  Every year four million people die from cigarette related illnesses.  That is still way too many.  And smoking is not just an individual thing.  It goes  into the air and can cause issues for others around you like lung cancer, SIDS and dementia, just to name a few.

There are many products to assist people struggling with smoking,  Gum, pills, patches and even smoking cessation studies.  Currently there is an Eagles trial open and actively recruiting for men and women smoking ten or more cigarettes a day, who are motivated to stop smoking.   This is a twelve week study that will include required outpatient visits and phone followups as well.  The initial twelve weeks includes treatment with either a placebo or smoking cessation drug.  There is another twelve week followup after the initial treatment.  And or course there is no smoking!  Either way you are on the way to a NO SMOKING future.

Just think, you will even save money.  Cigarettes are fairly expensive!  On the Eagles site there is even a smoking calculator to help you realize just how much money you can save by NOT smoking. Signing up and getting more information is easy as well.  Just put in your information on the site form and if there is a site with in 50 miles of you, you will be contacted about being a participant.  It is a new year.  What better time to make a lifestyle change like this one?  Give up smoking.  You family will thank you. YOU will thank you, once you realize how the quality of your life will be improved.

You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it. But if you sit quietly in the grass it will come and sit on your shoulder. ~~Unknown~~