Sad news, a warning to others

[pegkerr]

I just learned today that Paula C., a secretary who used to work in our office, has stage IV lung cancer, which has spread to her spine. One of the other secretaries in our office went out to lunch with her a couple of months ago, heard her coughing, and said, "Geez, you better get that checked out." A month ago, they decided she had pneumonia and she was hospitalized. It was then, presumably, that they discovered the worst.

Just a short while ago she was going about her ordinary life, going to work, going out to lunch with friends. Today she lies in a hospital bed on the brink of death, so doped up on medication for the pain that she doesn't even know that people are there.

She is only 45. Of course, she smoked.

I remember her as a spunky, funny lady, with an infectious whisky laugh, who loved to bowl.

Please, my friends, if you smoke, quit. If you don't, then for the love of Pete, don't start. Don't be offended if I tell you I don't want you to end up like her. It's too late for Paula, but not for you.

I remember when I was offered a cigarette by a kid I knew in 7th grade. I told him no, because I didn't want to get hooked. "I can quit anytime I want," he boasted, puffing on a cigarette himself.

When I saw him at our 20th high school reunion, I reminded him of that conversation. "Oh god," he told me, "it was a good thing you turned me down. I want to quit, but I can't."

I think of that special St. Lucia's Day surprise I got from the girls this morning. I might have been giving up a lifetime of moments like that if I had taken that first proferred cigarette. Forty-five--that's exactly my age.

If you have quit, please tell me how long it took you, and how you managed it.

What a terrible waste.

Edited to add: This was passed on today by someone who spoke with her husband:

"I talked to Joe last night for quite some time and Joe said Paula will not be coming home, she may not make it until Christmas. He's meeting with the doctors today and they are going to make the decision on whether to continue care."

Comments

[gamps-garret.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry about your friend, Peg. That is a horrible, horrible diagnosis to cope with. I hope that she and her friends have the support that they all need.

*puts on work hat* I want to share something with you. You're absolutely right to encourage everyone not to smoke.

1,300,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year. 1/3 of those cancers are caused by smoking. That means that 433,333 people get cancer *every single year* because of cigarettes. Not just lung cancer, oral cancers, cancer of the mouth organs, esophogeal cancer, tracheal cancer, or cancer of the bronchii -- research findings over the last year show conclusive evidence that exposure to second-hand smoke is a leading cause of breast cancer in women under age 35.

*takes off work hat*

I was a smoker in college. Sort of intentionally -- but more by accident. I was a "theatre person," and I desperately wanted to fit in. I auditioned for a role, and was cast as a character who chainsmoked her way through the play. I spent eight weeks smoking a pack of cigarettes in rehearsals every single night, practicing to inhale, then deliver a line, then exhale the smoke. (You can't do that if you're "faking it.") The day after the theatre went dark, I found myself reaching for a pack of cigarettes.

And panicked.

And then quit, cold turkey.

It was hard. Very hard. Partially because I have an addictive personality, but moreso because I so desperately wanted to spend time with the other people who were my friends -- or who I wanted as my friends. But I couldn't stand to be around them as they smoked.

I had to change everything after that -- how and when I ate, who I spent time with, what I wore and didn't wear at various times -- to get rid of the triggers. And I'd only been a smoker for two months!


Now I work under a contract that stipulates if I'm caught smoking, I will lose my job, publicly. I see and talk to people every day who are dying because they chose cigarettes over anything else that could have been available.

Your friend Paula is one of many people who are dying from a horrible, horrible illness that is 100% preventable. Educating our peers, our friends, our neighbors, our children, and perfect strangers is the only way to stop this madness from taking over.

*puts work hat back on*

If you know anyone who wants to quit and is having problems, let them know to keep trying -- it takes the average smoker five to seven tries to give up for good. And if they need advice, ideas, or help, they can call 1.800.ACS.2345 24/7 and speak with a trained professional.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that information.