Chemotherapy,Radiation therapy and Vaping

[Teacup36]

Hi I have a friend who has smoked for over 35 years .He was recently diagnosed with Kidney, bladder, and rectal cancer. He has been undergoing the above therapies for the last 2 months. I went to visit him tonight and he saw my ego twist and asked what it was I explained everything to him and let him use it when he went to reach for a smoke.He said he enjoyed it and would like to change over to vaping. Has anyone gone thru radiation or chemo and vaped? the chemo and radiation are doing what they are supposed to and his survival rate has gone up to 85%he is only 50 years old and I would love to see him stay around much longer and am hoping vaping is ok for him so that I can purchase him a couple of setups and some nicquid. any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Clovery]

I'm glad to hear your friend is responding to the treatments. It's really kind of you to want to help him.

If he is going to smoke cigarettes if he doesn't vape, then vaping would of course be the better choice. But if he has quit the cigs, then it's probably not a good idea to start vaping just to fill that void. I think the main concern would be with the chemo - it suppresses your immune system and leaves you much more vulnerable to infections. It seems that many people do experience some side effects when they start vaping like mouth sores and excess phlegm. It's usually just a minor annoyance for the average person, but for someone with a suppressed immune system, a simple sore or raw throat could turn into a nasty infection, excess phlegm could become pneumonia or sinusitis. If he can get by using other nicotine replacement, that would be the better choice in his case.

If he's going to go back to the cigs, then be there with the vaping set-up. Just explain to him that he needs to be extra careful about cleaning the equipment. If you think about it - how often do we wipe off our ecigs? What other thing is acceptable to repeatedly put down on a table, or in your pocket and then stick in your mouth? It probably carries a fair amount of germs that we are able to fight off, but for the immune compromised person those trace germs could cause infection. Once he is through with the treatments and his white blood cells are back to normal (they are probably low right now), then this increased risk will diminish.

 

[Teacup36]

Thanks for your input. He is STILL smoking, he said when the Drs gave him grim diagnosis at first why bother quitting now so he hasn't quit. But since they are giving him much better chances i am hoping getting him off the reg smokes and into vaping will help him


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