Journaling

A quit journal is a powerful tool that can help you reinforce your resolve to stop smoking. Consider making the first entry in your journal a list of the reasons you have to quit smoking. From the largest, most obvious reasons to the smallest, each and every one counts. Carry a copy of your list with you so that you can add to it as additional reasons come to mind. Think about the pros and cons of smoking as you compose your list, and refer to it when you're feeling tempted to smoke. When I quit smoking, I made a short entry in my journal at the end of every day. I jotted down a few notes about how I felt and made sure to acknowledge my gratitude for completing the day smoke-free.

When I struggled with cravings to smoke, I was able to quickly gain perspective by looking back through those journal entries. It allowed me to see just how much progress I'd made since quitting and helped me shift my attitude from negative to positive.

Your quit journal will help you lay the foundation for successful smoking cessation. Use it to get your thoughts moving in the right direction. Once you do that, making good choices and taking appropriate actions will come more easily.

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Respiratory Disease Statistics

Respiratory disease is an all too common side effect of smoking. The occasional smoker's cough is often the first signal of trouble in the lungs. Chronic bronchitis usually follows, and if left unchecked, the end result can be emphysema. Cigarette smoke is toxic, and hard on the lungs. In 2001, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, resulting in more than 118,000 deaths. More than 90% of these deaths were attributed to smoking. According to the American Cancer Society's second Cancer Prevention Study, female smokers were nearly 13 times as likely to die from COPD as women who had never smoked. Male smokers were nearly 12 times as likely to die from COPD as men who had never smoked. About 10 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with COPD, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD is consistently among the top 10 most common chronic health conditions. Smoking is related to chronic coughing and wheezing among adults. Smoking damages airways and alveoli of the lung, eventually leading to COPD. Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to have upper and lower respiratory tract infections, perhaps because smoking suppresses immune function. In general, smokers' lung function declines faster than that of nonsmokers.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004 if(zSbL

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Paratracheal Lymph Nodes

Lymphatic System / Lymph Node

A.D.A.M. Definition: Paratracheal lymph nodes run along the sides of the trachea (windpipe) in the neck.if(zSbL

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Nicotine Withdrawal Tips

--"Drink plenty of water. Water is one of nature's best quit aids and will help you beat back cravings to smoke; keep you well-hydrated, which in turn keeps you at your best to deal with the discomforts of the first few weeks; control snacking, and flush the toxins from cigarettes our of your body more quickly." --Terry

--"I stayed home and avoided all smokers for the first week. Climbing the walls was necessary, but I did manage it. Sipping on ice water and deep breathing kept me sane." --Char

--"Chewing on spicy things like cinnamon candies and whole cloves helped a lot."--Jules

--"I always had a box of Good and Plenty candies in my shirt pocket. It really helped to have something in that pocket when I automatically reached for a smoke. The taste of black licorice seemed to be a large help with the taste thing." --Deputy Dave

--"I armed myself with sugar-free bubble gum, mints and candy at all times, and did not drink alcohol." --grammie2rylee

--"I do not fight the cravings and urges to smoke, because it only makes me more tense. I try to accept, if not welcome them as a natural part of my addiction recovery. I let them wash over me, take deep breaths and just ride them out." --Carol C.

--Snack on sunflower seeds in the shell. Messy, but they will keep you busy and satisfied when craving a smoke." --Terry

--"Take hot baths and showers. It wasn't possible to crave smoking in the shower, for some reason." --Nyniane

--"I cut my coffee intake to one, sometimes two cups per day. If I started grabbing for food, I sucked on sugarless candy or ate an apple." --Williegenny

--"If I'm craving a smoke, I climb a flight of stairs, jump and down or just get up and move somewhere else for a few minutes." --Sept192007

--"Sing! The physical act of singing works great as a crave-buster. It gives the lungs a workout, gets the blood flowing, and kills the urge to smoke in the process. Pick you favorite, motivating music, and as an added bonus, it improves your mood too!" --LtHousLady

--"My suggestion is string cheese. Yeah you know, it looks like a tube in a plastic wrap but it's cheese. You pull on it in tiny pieces and it comes off like string. It can easily take up 20 to 25 minutes of your crave time if you want it to. It keeps your fingers busy and it's challenging to see just how small of a string you can pull off. If you like cheese, give it a try." --punkn'head

--"The thing that helps me a lot is popsicles!" --Nayls

--"Something that really helped me with cravings to smoke were hot /spicy dill pickles." --Shenna2

--"Change your routines. For instance, take a different route to work. Have your morning coffee and meals in a different room than you usually do." --Chris

--"I had to break old routines that involved smoking. Instead of talking on the phone and smoking, I would clean the house. Of course, after every chore, I would think I'd earned a smoke, which lead me to more cleaning! From there I got into scrapbooking and all sorts of crafts. You have to stay busy with things that aren't your normal routine early on."--Tammy

--"I recognized, after the initial physical withdrawal from nicotine, that I was breaking a habit. So I thought about how I could replace that habit with something healthy. For instance, I use to smoke on my porch. I started taking herbal tea to the porch, and before long I didn't feel comfortable going out there without my tea. I had replaced that habit!" --Kimmie1213

--"I look past the desire for a cigarette to the bigger meaning. The only thing smoking a cigarette would accomplish (besides making me feel bad) was to make me want another cigarette. Even if it satisfied me, how long would that satisfaction last? How long before I'd want another one?" --Nyniane

--"Go places where you cannot smoke. Movies were the best for me because I couldn't smoke for hours at a time. The movie distracted me and the snack bar was full of crave busting goodies." --Charlie777222

--"Think H.A.L.T. when you find yourself craving a smoke. Nine times out of ten, the urge from a cigarette originates from one of these four things: H -- Hunger A -- Anger L -- Lonely (boredom falls into this category as well) T -- TiredWhen you learn to identify the source of your discomfort, you can react with a better choice than smoking. If you're tired - rest, hungry, eat, etc." --Terry

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Hookah

Also known as narghile, argileh, shisha, hubble-bubble, shisha or goza, a hookah is a water pipe that is used to smoke flavored and sweetened tobacco. The hookah pipe houses separate chambers for the tobacco and water, and has one or more flexible tubing stems from which consumers inhale the tobacco smoke.

Hookah tobacco is often flavored with molasses, fruit pulp or honey and has had additional flavor added, such as coconut, fruit flavors, mint or coffee. Flavorings sweeten the taste and aroma of hookah tobacco, making it more appealing to young people, especially.

Hookah pipes have been in use for about 400 years, originating in India and Asia. In the early 1600s, Hakim Abdul Fath, a physician from India invented the hookah, believing the health hazards of tobacco smoke would be minimized by passing it through water before inhalation.

In the 1990s, flavored tobacco became popular in the Eastern Mediterranean countries, and hookah use grew out of that, spreading around the world.

Today, hookah is a popular pastime for young people in the United States, with hookah lounges popping up in big cities and around college campuses across the country.

Hookah tobacco is addictive and every bit as hazardous to a smoker's health as traditional cigarettes. Additionally, a one-hour session of hookah smoking exposes smokers to as much nicotine and toxins as they would get from a day or more of cigarette smoking.

In the short term, hookah smoking raises blood pressure and heart rate, which may increase the risk for heart attack and stroke.

In the long term, hookah smoking may contribute to a variety of cancers, heart disease and lung disease.

Protect your precious health and steer clear of hookah! There is no such thing as safe tobacco, and hookah use is no exception.

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Definition of Emphysema

Definition:
Emphysema is a severe form of COPD, in which the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs become permanently damaged. Normal, healthy lungs look like upside down branches of a tree with many thousands of these tiny air sacs at the ends of those branches. Lungs with emphysema have fewer, larger air sacs.

While environmental pollution can cause emphysema, cigarette smoking is by far the most common cause. The chemicals in cigarette smoke are thought to damage the delicate, interconnecting walls of tiny alveoli, breaking them down in to large air sacs that are less efficient at processing the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide that allows us to breathe properly.

The effects of emphysema are permanent and irreversible. However, if a person stops smoking soon enough, they may be able to arrest further damage and improve their lung function to some extent.

See Also:

"All About Emphysema"
Emphysema Photo Gallery
"Living with Emphysema" - Christine's Story

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Jane's One Year Milestone

For 37 years I had one last cigarette before turning in for the night, every night. On August 5, 2006, I had one last cigarette that I hoped and prayed with all my heart would be the last cigarette of my life.

What would tomorrow be like? What would I feel like? What would I do with my hands? Today, looking back over the past year, this is what I see.

I was sitting at my dear friend's funeral, which I reflected on in my six month milestone. He died from complications of lung cancer. It was a very sad day.

I was grateful I had quit smoking.

I was in sunny California. The past two months I had been flaky, sleepless, forgetful; a little mad and a little sad. At one point my husband asked me if I should really be driving a car! I had also been busy reading and learning all I could about smoking cessation. I changed routines that held triggers, and I was trying my hardest to practice positive thinking until it would come naturally. Basically, I was making quitting tobacco my job!

I think it took the first two months for what was in my head to get to my heart. I walked and walked and breathed in the beautiful air. I began to notice I could smell and taste again. My hair and skin looked better...everything was improving. The best change I noticed was that I was beginning to feel "free" and I was loving it. I felt like Mary Tyler Moore when she throws her hat in the air.

I was grateful I had quit smoking.

My friend May came to Nashville to visit her daughters. When she arrived, she was sick with what we thought was a chest cold. In a matter of days, she had seen the doctors, had a diagnosis and was getting ready for the fight of her life...she had lung cancer.

I sat with May and her daughters after their initial grueling day at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center. I listened as they told me that the worst part of the whole day was not being poked and prodded; it was not having to hurry up and wait to see doctor after doctor; it was not setting up the chemo and radiation. The worst thing of all was having to answer the question, "Did you smoke and for how long" over and over again at each stop. Her daughters told me it was excruciating to have to hear their mom say the words, "Yes, I smoked for 35 years"...and listen as she was forced to repeat the words, many times over, that described why, more likely than not, she was facing this life threatening illness.

I was grateful I had quit smoking.

I was looking forward to Christmas, my first smoke-free holiday in 37 years. WOW, what would that be like? My ickie threes had come a little late and were definitely making their presence known. I was busy shopping, planning, cooking, wrapping, 'Tis the Season, Oh the Joy! The old me would have rewarded myself with a cigarette after each task; it was a favorite time. Smoke, sit back, look at what I had done and think about what I was going to do. Well, I couldn't do that anymore.

I think the stress, the fatigue of overdoing, and the sheer physical and mental exhaustion of dealing with my quit exploded on Christmas Day! We were going to my mother's house, which was about an hour away. I wanted to drive myself in my own car. At this point I was not fit for human consumption and I wanted to be alone. Once in the car and driving down I-24, I had this thought: I could smoke and nobody would know. I pulled off the exit and there I sat in the Mapco parking lot digging through my purse looking for money.

All of a sudden, the nonsmoking slogans ran through my brain; the information in red ran thru my brain. Forum member Betty Blossom's soothing words and beautiful face ran through my brain; my fellow August ash kickers and the morning nope pledge ran through my head. I began to cry. I am crying now thinking about what I believe was a defining moment in my quit.

I was grateful I had quit smoking.

...were pretty uneventful. I was beginning to realize that the joy might just be in this journey. I was quitting smoking, but I was also growing as a person. I was calmer, more confident, and stronger. I was even beginning to appreciate the hard times of my quit. I recognized that after each "learning period," I was rewarded with a growth spurt and more feelings of true peace.

I was grateful I had quit smoking.

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