Today, I'm faced with having a partial colectemy in the near future due to a polyp (not the good kind) in my colon. It could not be entirely removed at the time of my colonoscopy and the surgeon is recommending right hemicolectomy. Six to eight weeks recovery.
I've spent some time reading up on this kind of polyp (including at least one other potential approach to removing it that is not as invasive) and discovered that while age and gender play a role in there development, so does smoking.
And I believe it.
I'm 61. I quit at age 54 knowing that my health would improve on a daily basis, but, that the longer term risks would not be reduced right away, and not as much as a nonsmoker. It seems that this is one of them.
I'm lucky to have a choice going forward. Quitting was the best thing I could have done.
Are you still smoking? If you won't stop, yet, have a colonoscopy at age 50. And know that there is a ton of quit support out there if you are willing to seek it.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Still smober
Still smoke free. It's been about five years eight months. All of the strain of quitting has vanished. And I've come to accept quitting. Now I'm sixty, but I set out at age 54 to see if I could change. I struggled for quite a while--never smoking, but I thought I'd lost my mind.
Now that smoking is no longer fresh in my mind, I realize that there are all sorts of quit help. I just dove in as fast as I could without thinking about what would make it easier. Accepting quitting makes it easy, but not all of us (about 2/3's who try) do not have the luxury of a positive attitude and a resolute mindset. Joining an online support group becomeanEx.org helped me change my thinking. I joined about 2 years 10 months in. And I'd made progress--certainly was happier than at the start of my quit.
At Ex I had a chance to hear from all kinds of quitters, to see support in action (newcomers coming nearly every day), and to read about nicotine addiction. I also came to understand how NRT helps some people, not others, and that Chantx and other drugs also help some.
Today, unlike 20, 30 years ago, support has expanded a great deal.
I wonder if todays quitters realize how wide the support and aids net is?
Today, I'm grateful I'm still smober and able to help others from time to time get through the early part of a quit.
Now that smoking is no longer fresh in my mind, I realize that there are all sorts of quit help. I just dove in as fast as I could without thinking about what would make it easier. Accepting quitting makes it easy, but not all of us (about 2/3's who try) do not have the luxury of a positive attitude and a resolute mindset. Joining an online support group becomeanEx.org helped me change my thinking. I joined about 2 years 10 months in. And I'd made progress--certainly was happier than at the start of my quit.
At Ex I had a chance to hear from all kinds of quitters, to see support in action (newcomers coming nearly every day), and to read about nicotine addiction. I also came to understand how NRT helps some people, not others, and that Chantx and other drugs also help some.
Today, unlike 20, 30 years ago, support has expanded a great deal.
I wonder if todays quitters realize how wide the support and aids net is?
Today, I'm grateful I'm still smober and able to help others from time to time get through the early part of a quit.
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