Do you think vaping could have saved her?

[Makeup_Junkie]

One of my mom's really good friends died about a year ago. She was a chain smoker and smoked about 2 packs a day. She said she had tried everything (gum, patches, cold turkey, hypnosis, you name it). I don't know exactly what she died from (I don't ask my mom because it's too painful of a subject for her). Now that I've been vaping for about a month now, I can't help but think that if she had started vaping 2-3 years ago, she wouldn't have been in such bad health. What do you think?

 

[b3ast1e]

Nobody really knows for sure - maybe. My Grandmother died of a smoking related illness 7 years after quitting. My wife's Grandma smoked until she was 90 and just died of old age.

Ecigs are probably not the holy grail unfortunately, it's probably wiser to think of them as harm reducing, not preventative.
But we do know how much crap is in your average cigarette, anything that reduces the sheer number of bad chems going into our bodies has to be a good thing.

 

[atavanhalen]

I think about this quite often in regards to my grandma, she is still alive but smoked for 48 years until she quit, but when she quit her coughing and hacking became much worse and it is about 15 years after she quit now and she has congestive heart failure and is on oxygen at all times. Luckily she has still lived a relatively long life but the quality is not what it could be and we do not know how much longer she has. I just cant help but think that vaping may have been much better for her. Like the other poster said though its about harm reduction.

 

[Iffy]

I quit 'bakky over a year ago after 46 years of 2 PaD. I'd be foolish to think that after smoking over two thirds of my life that all is OK now. I KNOW I've done irreversible damage to my body. My best hope is that I've extended my existence a few months and probably won't go out by coughing up my lungs.

Remember, vaping is not a cure. It's harm reduction!

 

[AttyPops]

If she had died in a smoking related house fire, you could say yes. Otherwise, crap shoot.

For me, it's basically "why not try?". Not a guarantee after 30 years of cancer sticks. But I can't think of a reason not to try.

BTW.. the smoking related house fire issue is enough to justify e-cigs on that basis alone, IMO. We just have to get the technology worked out.

 

[zoiDman]

I’m sorry to hear about your Mom’s Friend.

It’s Very Hard to say if She Had switched to Vaping if She wouldn’t have passed when She did.

Sometimes it is Impossible to turn back the clock on the Damages that Smoking has done to a Person.

 

[Dauslyn]

Sorry to hear about the loss.

My understanding, is that once you quit smoking, it takes about 15 years for your body to return itself to a state equivalent to that of a non-smoker. More than likely, had she quit even 10 years prior to her passing, the damage would have been done. While it may have extended her lifespan slightly, the same outcome would have presented itself, assuming she did pass from cigarette-related illness.

 

[Absintheur]

My mom was a life long smoker who tried very hard to quit but never could shake the hold of cigarettes. She died of cancer including lung cancer as well as cancer of most of her internal organs. Perhaps a few years less of smoking would have extended her life...will never know. I do know cancer runs in both sides of my family and I know I will not erase the years of damage I did but I am hoping I can get back a few years I had given away to the stinkies.

 

[NancyR]

I am very sorry for your loss, I know you said it was a friend of your mothers, but from your post it seems as tho she had a place in your heart as well.

Even tho she was a smoker, unless you know why she passed there is no way to know. Chances are good even if you did know the whys that couldn't be answered.

I lost my dad 16 years ago from a heart attack, this after he survived lung cancer. He had been a smoker since he was a teen, so chances are good that yes the smoking did add to the problems. But so did being at ground zero during nuclear testing in the 60's I think it was. As well as the chemicals he was exposed to while in nam. He and I talked about it all once, and he told me when he was a tail gunner they had a life expectancy of about 5 seconds in battle, so he counted the 30+ years after that as borrowed time.

 

[Makeup_Junkie]

Thank you all for your input. Unfortunately, I guess we'll never know if it could have saved her but from the posts I read, and knowing her history of smoking, I think it's safe to say it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Like an above poster said, it takes 15 years to get your body back to the body of a non-smoker. Thanks again for everyone's input. It means a lot.

 

[zuzette]

Life IS a craps shoot. The best you can do is make choice to create / improve your well being, quality of life and happiness RIGHT NOW.

The ultimate goal isnt long life ...its happy, joy filled, meaningful life.

Was she a happy person? I hope she enjoyed her life very much.

Life is like an amusement park...if you stay too long you just get tired and cranky.

 

[JENerationX]

God only knows if any of us will be spared from the damage already done. I look at vaping as a much less harmful alternative. I know I've already caused damage which may or may not ever completely heal, and I know that I can't guarantee vaping is completely safe.... but I can guarantee that without the vape I'd still be killing myself with the cigs.

 

[Trilly]

Sorry to hear about you loss.
Truth be told you would never know unless like another poster said, she died as a result of a smoking related house fire. My paternal grandmother died of lung cancer, she had never smoked and neither did her my grandad, my maternal grandmother got emphasema from passive smoking yet her husband, the smoker died of in a none smoking related accident from horrific injuries, he was in relatively good health despite smoking.
There are so many factors.
Fact is vaping is not a cure for smoking related desease but an alternative that won't pollute your body with the hundreds of known chemicals that cause these deseases.