illness/surgery as vaper rather than smoker

[AndriaD]

Well, I finally gave in to the overwhelming urge, and my husband went and got me some smokes. They're not exactly like the ones I used to smoke, they're the regular Slims rather than the 120s, because I simply didn't want it to become "old home week" with my favorite "smoke of choice."

But I finally figured out what was whipping me so hard: When I laid them down back in Feb, it was AT MY OWN SPEED -- if I wanted a cigarette badly enough, I'd just go have one, and enjoyed it, but the times I wanted one grew less and less until, under my own control, there just finally seemed no really good reason to smoke anymore. And for 55 days after that first smoke-free day, there were still cigarettes here, so if it had really whipped me, as it was doing today, I could easily have gone ahead and smoked -- but there were no cravings at all till I'd been smoke-free about 2 wks, and I got a bit stressed over learning to dry-burn coils, and I was already an "indoctrinated" vaper at that point, so it was really an easy matter to just whip out the eRoll and "pretend smoke." That just wasn't getting it this time, with my sense of taste so almighty skewed, and the craving beating me like a redheaded stepchild. For me, that issue of personal control is paramount -- otherwise I just walk around craving and resenting, craving and resenting, and anyone with any 12 step experience can tell you, resentments are just poison.

I don't intend to buy anymore, that's for sure. The taste doesn't gross me out as I feared it would, but it also doesn't "light up the night," as I also feared it would -- it tastes more or less as I expected, but the smell sure hasn't gotten any better, that's for sure, so the sooner I can re-escort these things back out the door, the better. My plan is to use this one pack as my leap-frog back to vaping -- god knows I've spent way too much on vaping to abandon it now! Hopefully by the end of this week my post-op health will be back to something more like normal, including my sense of taste, and I can once again be free of cancer sticks -- and then I'll get a new smoke-free banner, to go with my re-dedication.

It seems so unfair, I was doing so well, but as my father often observed, fair is only a thing in baseball -- in real life, well... "feces occurrs." Trite but just so damn true.

Andria

 

[abby1]

I'm sorry you're going through such a difficult time. I had a thought while reading about juice not tasting good. What about trying plain, unflavored juice with a hint of menthol. That way, you're not fighting against taste but still get the throat hit. Also, I'm wondering if you're on any medicating while recuperating. I'd bet there are meds that will ruin taste buds. Just a thought. Wish you all the best and have faith you'll be successful either way.

(Edit: spelling)

sent from my Note3

 

[amolson]

Hang in there! It'll get better, really it will.

Although my self, I'd smoke about half and then save the rest until they get good and stale.

That way next time you want a smoke, you really won't like it.

Just remember, this too shall pass and tomorrow is another day.

 

[Racehorse]

glad you're on the mend Adria, I had acute appendicitis and indeed, very painful, you're a trooper.

However, I would suggest to anyone that one fess up to anesthesiologist, always, if you are taking in any nicotine. This is the person who keeps you alive during surgery. for whom ANY vital information or stats is helpful. there is no downside to telling them. NONE.

I feel it is a must do.

 

[AndriaD]

I'm sorry you're going through such a difficult time. I had a thought while reading about juice not tasting good. What about trying plain, unflavored juice with a hint of menthol. That way, you're not fighting against taste but still get the throat hit. Also, I'm wondering if you're on any medicating while recuperating. I'd bet there are meds that will ruin taste buds. Just a thought. Wish you all the best and have faith you'll be successful either way.

I considered just some some plain unflavored; not sure I could deal with actual menthol taste even after all these years of switching from it; when I was about 16 I just developed a powerful aversion to it, which never left me.

They did give me some pain pills, which I took a couple of at first, but I was actually experiencing a great deal more pain from a) the gas they put in you to make the laparascopy possible, and b) the laying in bed for 4 days, than from the surgery itself; I stopped taking the pain pills after Wed, and didn't take another until last night, when my tiny efforts toward resuming solid foods were beginning to manifest in renewed normal bowel function -- and the pain wasn't at the surgical sites, but at the place where the appendix used to be, which I guess would be an interior surgical site.

Hang in there! It'll get better, really it will.

Although my self, I'd smoke about half and then save the rest until they get good and stale.
That way next time you want a smoke, you really won't like it.
Just remember, this too shall pass and tomorrow is another day.

Heh, I used to do that exact thing with the 120s, which is why I bought them -- one cigarette was 2 smokes, and as a just-plain-smoker, I never tasted a bit of difference in the two halves. But I did do exactly that last night, and I really CAN tell a huge diff in taste now, between the front half and back half. It's funny, you saying all that 12 step jargon -- Molson beer was my most favorite of all time when we lived in Michigan, but after we moved back down here, I couldn't find it anymore, just the Molson Golden, which I never liked, too heavy.

glad you're on the mend Adria, I had acute appendicitis and indeed, very painful, you're a trooper.

However, I would suggest to anyone that one fess up to anesthesiologist, always, if you are taking in any nicotine. This is the person who keeps you alive during surgery. for whom ANY vital information or stats is helpful. there is no downside to telling them. NONE.

I feel it is a must do.

You know, I was actually telling my husband this exact thing, when he was chafing over why I had to give 2 separate med histories to 2 separate docs, how important the anesthesiologist was, he's the guy who'd keep me alive, etc... and I guess I was just so out of my head with pain and morphine and being asked questions, it just completely slipped my notice -- but then in fact the anesthesiologist *didn't* take a wholly separate history, he just came in and introduced himself, and the opportunity just flashed right by. But you're entirely right, and it kinda terrifies me that I wasn't all over this at the time -- but as I said, by that point, completely out of my head with pain and morphine. And I now have the answer to something I always wondered, about morphine -- it does not, in fact, take the pain completely away -- as I discovered with IV demerol when I was in labor -- it just softens it a little, makes it a little more bearable.

Thank goodness it all turned out ok, because you're right, this large an oversight really might have had serious consequences.


Anyway, I knew I could count on y'all to be supportive and not throw rocks just because my cigarette addiction has temporarily gotten the best of me; today's a new day, I'm seeing the surgeon for a follow-up today, and my efforts towards resuming solid foods continue -- I actually woke up hungry! Which I guess isn't surprising given the small amount of food I've eaten in the past week.

Thx y'all, luv yas every one!
Andria

 

[Myk]

I don't mind you smoking. You're probably beating yourself up enough.

What I gathered from talking to my anesthesiologist is they don't really care, they watch your numbers and adjust accordingly to them not what they've been told.
Way back when medicine wasn't as advanced and smoking was common nobody cared and people weren't dying on the operating table right and left because they smoked.

 

[AndriaD]

I don't mind you smoking. You're probably beating yourself up enough.

I was, last night, but the cravings were just whipping me to death, and I just felt I had plenty to deal with, without that too. So I smoked, and yeah for a while I beat myself up about that, but this morning I realized that's just kinda dumb; I really am dealing with a good bit, after-pain, post-op effects in my entire digestion (wondering when this #$%#!! ........ is ever going to take a hike), trying to start eating solid food again because I feel really hungry, but after a few bites, not hungry at all... and, I have proven to myself quite solidly, with the 115 smoke free days I enjoyed, that with vaping I REALLY CAN beat smoking, and even fairly easily, which is miraculous in its own right. So for now, while I'm recuperating, I'm just not going to worry too much about smoking/not smoking -- getting over the appendectomy is my #1 priority right now.

But hey, how lucky it was that I had that 109 days smoke-free before I had to go under gen'l anesthesia, so I ended up having pretty much zero problems between anesthesia and my asthma. Very, very fortunate indeed. I'll be back to non-smoking pretty soon, I liked that status too well to want to go back to being a smoker (loved the lack of stink!), but there's no point being a drama queen about it.

What I gathered from talking to my anesthesiologist is they don't really care, they watch your numbers and adjust accordingly to them not what they've been told.
Way back when medicine wasn't as advanced and smoking was common nobody cared and people weren't dying on the operating table right and left because they smoked.

That was kinda my approach to smoking indoors when my son was very young; my whole family smoked around me, and it didn't kill me, so... where's the problem? But he was in fact missing 20 days of school every schoolyear, so I had to take it under advisement. Then of course there's the fact of my adult-onset asthma. Self-brought-on, by smoking...? Or was it nudged a little closer to existence by the fact that my whole family smoked around me, as a child? May never know, but all those considerations were sufficient to make me have a care for my son's lungs, and start taking it outdoors when he was 8 yrs old. His lungs enjoyed an immediate improvement, so it was without a doubt the right choice for us and for him.

Andria

 

[Myk]

That was kinda my approach to smoking indoors when my son was very young; my whole family smoked around me, and it didn't kill me, so... where's the problem? But he was in fact missing 20 days of school every schoolyear, so I had to take it under advisement. Then of course there's the fact of my adult-onset asthma. Self-brought-on, by smoking...? Or was it nudged a little closer to existence by the fact that my whole family smoked around me, as a child? May never know, but all those considerations were sufficient to make me have a care for my son's lungs, and start taking it outdoors when he was 8 yrs old. His lungs enjoyed an immediate improvement, so it was without a doubt the right choice for us and for him.

Andria

20 days doesn't seem like much to me. I know a girl who just graduated and missed 120 days this year. If anything smoking would probably have her missing fewer days.
Probably not about your parents and your adult asthma. If any damage was done those cells have been replaced by now. Your smoking harming you, more likely.

 

[AndriaD]

20 days doesn't seem like much to me. I know a girl who just graduated and missed 120 days this year. If anything smoking would probably have her missing fewer days.
Probably not about your parents and your adult asthma. If any damage was done those cells have been replaced by now. Your smoking harming you, more likely.

Aw man, the schools were going completely nuts about those 20 missed days, I thought they were gonna send out social services or something, for the boy missing that many days of school. It was when we moved from one place where we lived only 1 yr, and I saw the DARK shapes on the walls from the smoke that I realized that at least 90% of the problem was the 2nd-hand smoke he was inhaling. So I quit smoking in the house when we moved, and the very next year, he had perfect attendence. QED, and all that.

Then the stupid boy grows up and starts smoking.

Andria

 

[Myk]

Aw man, the schools were going completely nuts about those 20 missed days, I thought they were gonna send out social services or something, for the boy missing that many days of school. It was when we moved from one place where we lived only 1 yr, and I saw the DARK shapes on the walls from the smoke that I realized that at least 90% of the problem was the 2nd-hand smoke he was inhaling. So I quit smoking in the house when we moved, and the very next year, he had perfect attendence. QED, and all that.

Then the stupid boy grows up and starts smoking.

Andria

My bathroom would get cigarette tar drips on the ceiling. I finally cleaned them off.


I can't blame my missed days from school on my mother's smoking, at least half the time I was smoking myself. I can't really say I'm any less likely to get sick not smoking. I got sick from a vape meet and the only germophobe infraction was shaking a hand, and I can't figure where pneumonia came from. I get sick just as easy as when I smoked and I'm not taking immune suppressants. Outside of pneumonia this year in the heat I do breathe easier usually.

The girl who missed 120 days has ADA which is something I didn't have. I'm amazed she graduated on time. Just shows what schools can do when they're not fishing for money complaining about missed days and actually helping the kid who's missing days instead.

 

[AndriaD]

My bathroom would get cigarette tar drips on the ceiling. I finally cleaned them off.
View attachment 349649

Dang, is that what those were? I always thought it was mildew or something icky like that, and it was just me and my stupid smoke! Really glad that when we bought this house, although I was still a full-time smoker, I had been an outdoors-only smoker for YEARS, and that not only keeps the inside of house nicer and better smelling, it sure made it easier on me when I finally gave up the butts. And even in my current woes, having an occasional smoke, I trot on out to the porch to do it -- in fact I'm going out of my way, this time, to make it as uncomfortable on myself as possible -- and I just have to get that stink off my hand the minute I walk in, and have a few puffs of vapor to get rid of the bitter taste -- and that's the whole point, really, of smoking at all right now, other than keeping that everloving monkey off my back -- I have to get my taste-buds back online, because all this sickness had totally befuddled them. After I smoke, the vape tastes "right."

The girl who missed 120 days has ADA which is something I didn't have. I'm amazed she graduated on time. Just shows what schools can do when they're not fishing for money complaining about missed days and actually helping the kid who's missing days instead.

Don't think I know that one -- anything at all like ADD? My son suffered that pretty badly, but then, so did I, I realized once they diagnosed him, so I just tried to keep on him, as firmly and lovingly as I could, to get the work done -- he's brilliant, but really hard to keep on-task, or, once firmly on-task, move to a new task. He never suffered the ADHD version thankfully, he was always really well behaved, just about normal for any growing kid, really -- sassy and high-spirited but quite manageable, if you're paying attention -- so I put my foot down very firmly on medicating him to make a square peg fit a round hole. Not MY son!

Andria

 

[Myk]

Don't think I know that one -- anything at all like ADD? My son suffered that pretty badly, but then, so did I, I realized once they diagnosed him, so I just tried to keep on him, as firmly and lovingly as I could, to get the work done -- he's brilliant, but really hard to keep on-task, or, once firmly on-task, move to a new task. He never suffered the ADHD version thankfully, he was always really well behaved, just about normal for any growing kid, really -- sassy and high-spirited but quite manageable, if you're paying attention -- so I put my foot down very firmly on medicating him to make a square peg fit a round hole. Not MY son!

Andria

She has Ulcerative Colitis. ADA is Americans with Disabilities Act which has been amended to include IBD so schools can't pull the crap they have in the past.

ADD would explain why your kid started smoking. He's self medicating, like I was and you probably were and are.