One way to quit smoking - for good
My family received some sad news on Wednesday evening, one of my cousins passed away, at the age of 51. This made me rather sad, because as a young boy he was one of my idols - someone I thought typified everything that was "cool" in the world. Jerzy introduced me to Rock music - my father listened to country - and I learned about groups like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix. Him and his wife at that time owned a Tobacco store called "The Smoke Shoppe", and was most likely the biggest influence on me starting smoking at the age of 15 - cause he was so fucking cool in my eyes. I got my first ride in a muscle car with him - he had a seriously beefy Olds 442, and he used to take me for rides in that, and do stoplight drag races with it. He introduced me to watching Saturday Night Live, back in the days of the original "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" - my parents never let me stay up that later. Hell, he introduced me to Doctor Who, and started my infatuation with British Comedy shows on PBS. He helped me learn how to talk in a bad british accent, and yes he was guilty for my introduction to Monty Python. Even though we lived in Rochester, NY and he lived outside of Newark, NJ I got to visit him fairly often, and I really looked forward to going to visit. I mean, he spent time with a young boy like myself, never pushed me aside just because I was a kid, always tried to answer questions I had seriously, and had a wicked sense of humour. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up - as viewed thru the eyes of a young boy he was as much of a hero to me as any TV star, or astronaut or president.
As much as I regret his passing, this is actually a blessing. You see, as a result of his lifetime of rather heavy smoking - I'm told he averaged like around 2 packs a day - he died of Mouth Cancer. In the last months of his life, as he dealt with the effects of this, he underwent many radical surgeries to try to save/prolong his lifespan. By the time he died, he weighed under 80 pounds (for a guy that was my height, 6 foot 1), and in addition to the radiation treatment they tried to stop the spread, the doctors ended up removing his lower jaw, all of his teeth, most of his tongue, his larynx/vocal chords. He had a trach tube implanted, as well as a feeding tube. So say that he didn't have much quality of life would be putting it mildly. But thankfully his suffering is over, and he can go on with his destiny, and those that loved him can start the grieving/healing process knowing that his pain is done now.
Why am I bothering to post this? I'm not doing this to be preachy to all the people that still do smoke out there - I fully believe that you are all adults, and fully aware of the possible consequences of smoking. I'm doing it as another way to help me reinforce the reasons I should stay quit smoking - it's been a year and 3 months since I quit now, and I still occasionally deal with cravings for a smoke. Hell, I still have cravings for Copenhagen (chewing tobacco) and I quit that 10 years ago. I've got enough medical issues in my life, and I decided on my own it was time to lessen some of the risks (hopefully). It's an ongoing struggle for me still, and I take opportunities whenever I can to use "negative reinforcement" to keep to my decision to quit.
I also did it as a way to remember one of the coolest motherfuckers I ever had the pleasure to spend time with in the formative years of my youth. Thanks again for all you did for an annoying young cousin, Jerzy. Not too many people would have spent the kind of time with a kid like you always did. I hope you get the opportunity to be "cool" in the afterlife, cause you deserve it, man.
As much as I regret his passing, this is actually a blessing. You see, as a result of his lifetime of rather heavy smoking - I'm told he averaged like around 2 packs a day - he died of Mouth Cancer. In the last months of his life, as he dealt with the effects of this, he underwent many radical surgeries to try to save/prolong his lifespan. By the time he died, he weighed under 80 pounds (for a guy that was my height, 6 foot 1), and in addition to the radiation treatment they tried to stop the spread, the doctors ended up removing his lower jaw, all of his teeth, most of his tongue, his larynx/vocal chords. He had a trach tube implanted, as well as a feeding tube. So say that he didn't have much quality of life would be putting it mildly. But thankfully his suffering is over, and he can go on with his destiny, and those that loved him can start the grieving/healing process knowing that his pain is done now.
Why am I bothering to post this? I'm not doing this to be preachy to all the people that still do smoke out there - I fully believe that you are all adults, and fully aware of the possible consequences of smoking. I'm doing it as another way to help me reinforce the reasons I should stay quit smoking - it's been a year and 3 months since I quit now, and I still occasionally deal with cravings for a smoke. Hell, I still have cravings for Copenhagen (chewing tobacco) and I quit that 10 years ago. I've got enough medical issues in my life, and I decided on my own it was time to lessen some of the risks (hopefully). It's an ongoing struggle for me still, and I take opportunities whenever I can to use "negative reinforcement" to keep to my decision to quit.
I also did it as a way to remember one of the coolest motherfuckers I ever had the pleasure to spend time with in the formative years of my youth. Thanks again for all you did for an annoying young cousin, Jerzy. Not too many people would have spent the kind of time with a kid like you always did. I hope you get the opportunity to be "cool" in the afterlife, cause you deserve it, man.