Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Kidnapped and held Hostage!! (Longish)

Well since moving to NH my DR. has been located in Melrose MA (about a 1 hour ride from my house)couple that with the fact that she is a total Lying B!tch ... for example when I tore my claf one year ago or so she refused to refere me to my VERY local PT establishment because "it is in your best interest to go to our location"
to which I said it's in my best interest to drive one hour with a torn right(driving foot) calf for 1 hour, go to PT, then drive in rush hour traffic home for 1-2 hours?... {the punch line now...}
"well yes I will be better able to track your progress"
to which I said..."do you not have a e-mail or fax where they could forward their reports to"
to which she had no response but instead flattly refused to refere me to my local PT house....

I went any way! so there B!TCH!!

So back to the point of this....

Friday I have a 10:45am appt with my NEW LOCAL DR for an annual physical...
I meet with him and discover that he still has not recieved my records from my old B!tch of a DR...
So I proceed to fill him in on my history and family history...mention that I desperately want to quit smoking, and not pack on the 50-60lbs I did last time...

I also mention that I have been feeling a little congested/presure across my chest lately and that I may have Bronchitis (my intuition for self diagnosis is almost always spot on)

Well the bells and whistles go off and next thing you know I am being rushed 1 block to the ER via ambulance with IV lines lights and sirens and the whole works, It took them longer to take my vitals and call them in then the trip itself...
Now the have me in ER running every test known to man EKG blood work, chest xray, and two nitro pills...

I'm kept over night for observation and scheduled fro a Chemical stress test (for those who may not know I broke my ankle about 5 weeks ago) so he decides that the typical "treadmill stress test" is out of the question...

We (DR, nurses, and myself) all agree that this is probably over-the-top but want to err on the side of caution...

SO....there I sit looking out the window at, what are likely to be the last 2 60 + degree days left around here for riding...straped to a heart monitor and eating a hospital Cardiac Diet...wishing I had kept my fat trap shut...

Every thing looked GREAT and he reluctantly admitted that "for a guy who smokes as much (1-2 pks per day ) as you do, every thing actually looks REAL good"...to which he imeadiatly reminded me that I had told him(prior to all of this) that I wanted to quit, and that the results, nor his comment should not be mis-construde in any way to be a "green light to continue smoking"...he then gave me some scripts for my "Brochitis" and sent me on my way....

So Starting tommorow (bedtime tonight) I am officially a non smoker....and hopefully this time (three prior attempts, the longest being 2 years)it's for good....and without putting on 50 plus pounds...or else Pat may be gettin my bike for a big bore conversion to haul my fat A$$ around...

Wish me luck!...

and Addy I may be PMing you for your secret weight loss tips

Good luck man!!

Ya know as much of a pain as it was, it is best they kept you. Kim's mom had some pain on her way to a routine checkup also. A Tripple bypass and abdominal aeortic anneurysm surgery later she's doing ok.... Also a smoker, but much older than you obviously. Good to be sure!

Good luck Rob,

I was referred to a doctor 17 years ago that I get along with real well. Although I went in three years ago for a basic check-up and made a comment about "it having been a few years". He looked at the chart and said "Try ten". Changed some meds a year ago and I gained 15 pounds, which isn't a major deal since I have always been skinny as a proverbial rail. He said that's a good sign, I think enough is enough. He wants me riding the Triumph for many more years, we share the same goals .

JH

Start an exercise program Rob. And take it slow, but gradually increase your level. Join a gym if there's one handy, start walking, even take dance lessons (you could learn to moonwalk )
It'll help keep the weight down, and you'll feel better too.

Go get 'em Rob. I've been "smober" now for:

"One month, five days, 8 hours, 39 minutes and 42 seconds. 1272 cigarettes not smoked, saving $159.26. Life saved: 4 days, 10 hours, 0 minutes."

Cool little freeware utility you can download here that tracks the above. The site also has buku information to help you out.

I smoked 2.5 packs a day since 07/30/1980 (strange how that coincides with my wedding anniversary). The longest I ever "stopped" was 3 years. I've tried cold-turkey (horrible results), nicotine gum (good results, but painful trick jaw and upset stomache), and the patch (best results). I chose the patch as it's unfair for family, friends and co-workers to feel my wrath as I detox and quit the habitual pattern that I imposed on myself.

I also managed to LOSE 22 pounds during this last endeavour. Here's how I did it. (Keep in mind I'm no nutrionalist and the last time I saw a doctor was in '97 for military retirement discharge). No food, snacks etc. nothing, nada, after 16:00. Eat once in the morning and once for a late lunch. Also, no booze (hard stuff). Limit yourself to a maximum of two beers or two glasses a wine a night. Sodas, ice cream, snacks all that stuff is for poussies. Some form of light exercise; buy a dog and walk it 1-2 miles daily (gets you away from the wife); secks with the neighbor; nothing crazy, simple stuff, it works. Guess discipline is the bottom-line.

For me, this was a huge life-style change. I'm off the patch now and hope this time is "quit" time and not just another "stop" time.

Anything I can do to help, drop me a PM or whatever .....

Good Luck to you,

Tom

Good luck! Smoking cigarettes is filthy & evil and you'll be glad you quit.

Thanks Tom....and continued sucess to you also...these things really do Su(K so I'm looking forward to having them out of my life!...the little trip to the ER (even thought I knew it was purly "precautionary") didn't hurt the motivation!

Tom, I checked out that link and down-loaded the time tracker...Thanks!!

That's an interesting link Tom.
I'm not sure what to set for average price so I just put in the price when I quit, 0.75. Here's what I got:

23y
1w
6d

631.08 saved
16,828 cigarettes not smoked
8w, 2d, 10h, 20 m. life saved


Oops, figured wrong. It wants number of cigarettes not packs
New figure:

$12,621.58 saved
336,575 cigarettes not smoked
3y, 10w, 6d, 15h 55m life saved.

Good luck with the quitting.

Cigarettes here are about £5.50 a pack, so I quit 3.5 years ago and I've saved £6,643.61.. just about enough to buy a brand new Speedmaster! Now that's a reason to quit!

Good luck Rob. I quit cold turkey 40 years ago. I was in the navy then. We were doing exercise (we called the JFKs then) and I could hardly breath, so quit. When I went to a bar was the worst, I had to order two beer, one for each hand.

Dave

I've said this before. My wife tried all methods and nothing worked for her till accupuncture. Could be that she was finally ready to quit, but might be worth trying.
Good luck!
Mike Sr.

12 hours in and NO problems at all...the occasional "habit" grab for the pack...but so far so good....the toughest time (first waking up to smoke two or three before getting out of bed) is past, now comes the "after lunch" smoke...

good luck man ,try chewin on some tooth pics,gives the hands and jaws something to do. hey 77 is this what i think it means "secks with the neighbor; nothing crazy, simple stuff" strange quitting habit man

Rob, Thank Goodness that the ER trip WAS purely precautionary. I'm sure the people who love you want you around for a long, long time.

I'm quitting too (just keep stopping till you stay stopped they say)- last cigarette at 10 AM on Friday 11/10. Went to a noon time dental cleaning and my mouth felt so good, I just said, ok, now's as good a time as any. I'm using the NRT lozenges, which are finally packaged in a little easy open canister thing (as opposed to before when each gum or lozenge was hermetically sealed and superglued in it's own little impossible to open packet. The edge of the packets weren't even sharp enough to slit my wrists in frustration as I'd attempt to get out a peice- LOL!).

I'm also self medicating with steak & chocolate on demand.

Tom- in terms of the "secks with the neighbor" tip, I've got 2 questions:
1.) Where does Hugh Jackman live? and
2.) Would it count as being his neighbor if I pitch a tent next to his house?

Hang in there Paula!

Rob,
Good luck with quiting. Is Cathy going to quit with you? If so, I think I'll stay away until the fireworks clear. Talk about bitchy, your household will be down right nasty for a while. I hope you don't take it out on Brad.

Rob your such a quitter. Wow cant keep one lousy habit going...
Good luck buddy

The best of luck with quitting.....and a slutory tale....

I used to smoke 100 cigarettes a DAY. I used to rush one to light up another. I quit 11 years ago when they stopped smoking on transatlantic flights and I was crossing the pond and back every two weeks. The thought of going 6 to 8 hours without a smoke terrified me.

I read a book by a guy called Alan Carr - and it worked. I found it EASY to quit. The first 48 hrs is the worst.

The payback was a year last August, after being diagnosed with cancer of the aesophagus, I was refused an operation because I was overweight. I was told I had 6 months to live without the op, and 52 days (the chemo regime cycle pre operation) if I did, as I would die on the operating table.

I said I would prefer to go that way than rot away for 6 months. Anyway, the ward sister told me that the Anesthetist called the shots as he has to keep you alive when they operate, and the head Aneasthetist was a good friend of hers. She pulled a few strings and got him to come and see me.

He asked me a few fitness questions, made me go through some deep breathing and stair climbing and said that if they didn't operate, I would die. He asked me if I smoked. I said no. he asked me if I had ever smoked, I said yes. He asked me how long it had been since I smoked. I said "over 10 years". He looked me straight in the eye and said "if it had been a day less than that I would have said sorry - no operation because we have to deflate one lung for up to 2 hours and with smokers it is very rare that it restarts and remains healthy". He said I had a 25% chance of getting through without a problem and 0% without the op.

Suffice to say, I survived the aesophagotomy but had complications. My family were told I wouldn't live if the didn't operate, and I would probably die if they did. and had a second op 5 days later.

Just about all of my organs started to shut down, I had to go on dialysis becaus my kidneys stopped working, insulin because my pancreass and liver went on the blink, a ventilator because the incisions in my abdomin and chest were being kept open in case they needed to get in again quickly. I had 18 connections for various drugs and functions, the drugs alone cost £15,000 a day for 7 days.

I then had a bad reaction to the drugs and was hallucinating for a month ! I now know why Ozzie Obourne (a fellow Brummie) spent so much of his wedge on chemicals ! I had to have my blood recycled to get rid of the drugs.

I had visits from the whole team during intensive care and they all shook their heads and said "you frightened the life out of us for two weeks ! we didn't think you would make it" They said they had never known anyone with such strength - both physical and mental - and such a will to live.

If I knew then that my wife would be dead within 12 weeks....

Now 12 months on I have to go back for another big operation to repair a giant hernia. It stretches about 12 inches long and 6 inches deep on my stomach (or where it used to be - they moved it up into my chest cavity and it now vies for space with my right lung). It is divided down the middle by a 1 inch wide scar, streching it and hurting like flook ! They will need to cut a strip of flesh away up to 2 inches wide to get in and put a grid in the abdominal wall and then pull the skin back together. Now here's when being overweight is a benefit - there is enough slack to cover the gap !!!!

The only down side is the operation is on December 5. it would have been my wifes birthday.

I must have been a pretty wicked guy in my last life !

A barrel of laughs my posts are ain't they !!!!

Michael,

Good luck with the "knife" and your tale, although not a "barrel of laughs" speaks volumes to the long term effects of smoking...even years after quitting...this will be my fourth time "quiting" and hopefully my last...

Day two and still determined...a few "habitual cravings" today but nothing I couldn't handle!

Wait a minute Brummie! I'm doin' the math here.

Let's see now....100 cigarettes = 6 months to live.

Now...I smoke about 20 of these stupid things a day. So that's 5 x 6 months, which = 2 and a half years.

This means that at this present rate I won't even come close to seein' my 60th birthday!!!

Man! Now I KNOW I gotta QUIT this stupid-a$$ bad habit o' mine.

Thanks for sharing your story. You may just have saved the life of this here idiot living in California.(and possibly a few others around too)

Cheers, good luck, and may you achieve some semblence of good health in the future, sir!

Dwight

Rob, Paula and Others trying to quit,
Go here: WelPlex Clinic
It's in Tampa. I've talked to two people who've used them and they walked away from their evening treatments as non-smokers - never had a single craving. I think it's about $480.00, but some insurance companies cover the costs.
You have to have someone with you to drive you back home or to a hotel. Once treated you'll feel the same rush for hours and days, that you usually get when smoking a cigarette after being deprived for a day or two. They give you a prescription to keep this "rush" at bay while your body gets used to cleaning the residual nicotine from your system. I think the treatment is an IV using atropine and scopalamine, which will block the nicotine receptors in the brain. Nicotine replaces acetylcholine in your brain, and causes the addiction. The treatment will allow acetylcholine to occupy the receptors, replacing the nicotine. The clinic claims 88% first time success rate and it is guaranteed for a year - any subsequent treatment is free.

See There! And ya'll thought I was stupid!!!

Brummie- You have been down a Hard Road and are walking it with enormous courage. I'm so sorry that you lost your wife-I'm hoping that you'll feel your Beloved big in your heart on your next surgery. I've got the Carr book ( his method worked for a good friend of mine), I've been reading it all week. Nicotine really IS a monster, and every cigarette feeds it.

Thanks, Dennis- I looked at that website....Interesting. Scopalamine is a pretty powerful drug- I'd be a bit nervous. It looks like they combine the atropine/scopalamine with behavior mod techniques, and work on repatterning as well as the chemical addiction.

day three and the cravings are fewer BUT stronger...the damm gum is reaking havock with my stomach...but I havent taken an axe to the family yet AND dealing with the cravings seems to be Ok...I've taken my own dosage of the gum (they suggest 1-2 pcs per Hr) tapering off over a 12+ week schedule...but then they ARE in the business of SELLING gum....like the "lather, rinse, repeat directions on shampoo bottles...

I try to only chew when a particularly strong craving becomes difficult to ignore...
How are the rest of my "stop smoking buddies" doing???

Tom??
Paula??

Hey Rob,
Still not smoking either!! Amazing.Hooray for us- a minute at a time!!

I agree that the cravings are stronger. I'm using the Commit lozenges, the 2 mg ones, about 4 a day-I tried the gum before and it was too strong, really upset my stomach. Had tried patches before, but they made me have really crazy wacko dreams- even after my doc said to cut them in half and take them off at like 8 PM. I've also been talking to a woman I know who does tobacco cessation counseling with the MA "Quitworks" program, which is helping.

My daughter knows how to play on her poor mother's weakened and disoriented condition....Somehow she got me to buy her a tote bag from the Coach Outlet this afternoon. Clearly, I am not in my right mind, but I am NOT smoking.

This is going to sound pathetic and vain, but oh well, truth is truth- I'm petrified of gaining weight. I know I know, exercise, exercise BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! I can't think that far ahead yet!! I'm doing what I did when I got sober/clean by not carrying any money around ( can't cop with no cash, lol). Joining a gym IS on my list, but for TODAY it's just DON'T SMOKE NO MATTER WHAT.

If you are considering exercising, I would start now. Even if it is just a walk around the block. MUCH MUCH easier to keep ahead than play catch up. Trust me!!

Ben is right!!! start now particularly good for reliving the stress associated with quiting...also gives you an outlet to focus upon...START NOW a 10-15 min walk around the block is better than nothing and helps start you in the right direction.

Just heard that the guy (Allen Carr)who wrote the book that helped me to quit, died of lung cancer today. he was 72 and quit 23 years ago. He used to smoke 100 a day.

He used to run classes on how to stop smoking and his method was to tell people to carry on smoking until they wanted to stop, i.e. when they understood and believed in his method. This meant he was always in smokey rooms so they reckon it was the passive smoking that done the damage.



His book made him a multi millionaire. So sad he didn't have more time to enjoy it.

stick with it. You CAN do it !

2 weeks 2 days 20 hours and 53 Min....still going....chewing gum and anything else that gets in harms way...so far no axe murders...so all is good

Awesome Rob...I haven't quit yet, but I'm down to 1/3 of what I used to smoke by not smoking at work. It'll be not smoking while drinking that'll be a huge pain.

I knew a guy who had tapered down to nothing except while drinking right after college like that. One bad week and he was up to a pack or so a day again.... A little is still a lot! But hey, whatever works.

Harder than heroin...I have quit for 1 month, started again last week...I talk myself into smoking so easily. Just going on a trip on my bike, first stop, cigarettes...I tell myself that I can quit anytime, but ultimately, I can't...