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I heard last week on NPR that it takes about seven years for the lungs to pink up again.  But as with Peter Jennings, you can still get lung cancer twenty years after you quit, although you greatly, greatly cut the chances.

debbiedowner wrote:

I heard last week on NPR that it takes about seven years for the lungs to pink up again.  But as with Peter Jennings, you can still get lung cancer twenty years after you quit, although you greatly, greatly cut the chances.

I asked about that 7 year 10 year thing. Your lungs will never get back to their original state, and while quitting may add a few years to your life, the damage has been done. If you really believe your lungs will become like new, sit down and talk to a pulmonary doctor and/or therapist. Some damage just isn't reversible and can take years to cause you problems.

aki wrote:

justine wrote:

debbiedowner wrote:

I heard last week on NPR that it takes about seven years for the lungs to pink up again.  But as with Peter Jennings, you can still get lung cancer twenty years after you quit, although you greatly, greatly cut the chances.

I asked about that 7 year 10 year thing. Your lungs will never get back to their original state, and while quitting may add a few years to your life, the damage has been done. If you really believe your lungs will become like new, sit down and talk to a pulmonary doctor and/or therapist. Some damage just isn't reversible and can take years to cause you problems.

Justine's hit it on the head. Say you smoked for five years in your twenties and then quit. You can still get lung cancer in your 40s and 50s. Cancer can lie dormant for a long time.

One of the most common types of lung cancer is adenocarcinoma. There is no cure for it at any stage. No "under 5% make it past 5 years" to pray for. You get that one, you're gone, usually in 6-8 months from when it's first diagnosed. If you live 2 years with that one you're a miracle.

You don't hear that too often from Smoking Cessation lobbyists, sure as hell puts a black mark in their promotional material.

Don't mean to piss on your parade. Congrats to all quitters, it should add years to your life and hopefully you'll dodge the cancer bullet.

I also want to add, that while cancer is one of the worst things smoking can cause, it isn't the only thing. There are several lung diseases that can occur at a later age as a result of smoking when younger.

It just boggles my mind that people START smoking these days, knowing what we know now.

My maternal grandmother (my Mom's mom, for those of you keeping track) has been a heavy smoker all of her life. She's approaching 80, and is healthy as a horse (physically). For some reason, she just hasn't been that adversely affected by smoking.

My mother, on the other hand, started smoking at around 13 or 14, and continued on until, well...she hasn't quit. She didn't get the same genes as her mother, apparently, because at the age of 52, she had to undergo a 5-way bypass. She tried to quit after that, but couldn't. She was smoke-free for a few weeks, then picked it back up. In October 2003 (just before her 58th birthday), she was admitted to the hospital again, this time she was diagnosed with emphysema. She was told if she didn't quit smoking and did not go on oxygen 24/7, she might not last two more years.

She hasn't done either, and it's a year and a half later. While her outward appearance indicates she's as healthy as she was a couple of years ago, it's anyone's guess as to when her lungs will start to fail her.

So if you're an unapologetic smoker, don't count on an iron constitution to come through for you just because your dad or aunt or someone lived to a ripe old age while smoking -- it can skip a generation.

I quit smoking this year after 15yrs,smoked  about half  pack a day.I quit March 14th on my B-Day.I used "Step Two" patch for a week and then will power after that!Best decision I have ever made.I have allot more energy now and feel healthier.

Last edited by djmozilla (2005-05-14 1:22 pm)

djmozilla wrote:

I quit smoking this year after 15yrs,smoked  about half  pack a day.I quit March 14th on my B-Day.I used "Step Two" patch for a week and then will power after that!Best decision I have ever made.I have allot more energy now and feel healthier.

And the stench is gone.

CaptKevMan wrote:

My mother, on the other hand, started smoking at around 13 or 14, and continued on until, well...she hasn't quit... She was told if she didn't quit smoking and did not go on oxygen 24/7, she might not last two more years.
She hasn't done either, and it's a year and a half later.

CaptKevMan: I truly don't know how you must feel about this: angry, resigned, sad, indifferent?  How does the child of a smoker feel, I wonder?  I started smoking at 15 in the days before anyone was informed about the health effects, so I never worried about my mother's smoking. (She stopped at age 80 and lived to 92.) I was still smoking when she quit, so I guess her smoking was never an issue for me. I'm wondering what our children felt when Mr. Downer and I smoked. (We stopped after they were in college.One of them in particular, the one who nagged us most to stop smoking, was the same one who made us both reach for the cigarettes because he could be so damned sanctimonious.)

Banning smoking (or disapproving of it in public) is totally different from thinking people should be able to do what they want with their bodies inside their own homes. There isn't a contradiction.

Camp David wrote:

Smoking is by no means the only risk in today's society...

:looking around:
Nope. No one claimed that.

Camp David wrote:

I also find it hypocritical that some of the same folks that are so "against" smokers and smoking also happen to be advocates of legalized marijuanna.

Proof? Personally I hate weed. I am not sure why you're playing the viscious, smoker azzhole here, but no one has called for a smoking ban or such in this thread. This seems to be a thread for support of people that overcame their addiction or are planning to. Pitch in or piss off.

Last edited by iBubba (2005-05-16 2:37 pm)

I was a smoker for 7yrs....and quit........
now I just smoke WEED all the time!!!!!!!!!
muahahaha muahahah

My 15 year old daughter had me so aggravated last evening that I almost -- for the first time in all these years post quitting -- drove to the 7-11 and  bought a pack. (didn't, thank goodness)

I've been pretty smoke free since new years, I was smoking for about 8 months beofre that. (Yeah, I guess that makes me a lightweight, especially only with about 4-6 cigarettes a day compared to a lot of twin and triple pack people, but I dont think that's the important part here, eh?) I had one cig when I was pissed on Valentines day, but I sure as hell didnt enjoy it.

I dont think that I could really stand one nowadays, so buying another pack would be a complete waste.

I also do not support any smoking bans.

You revived a 5 month old topic to say that?