HOW TO QUIT SMOKING IN 21 DAYS

Two part post warning. I really tried to condense it into one but when I unblock, I unblock. So sorry.

I grew up in a smoking family. Both parents plus my one brother who was 10 years older than I, also smoked. My mother was a severe asthmatic, yet she continued to smoke till the end. Therefore, it was just a matter of getting old enough for me to start. It was a family tradition.

When I was a senior in high school, I asked my Dad if I could smoke. His answer was, "If you can afford it, go for it." So I gave up eating lunch and with my allowance and lunch money, I started my addiction. For you non-smokers, when you first start, you get quite high. That is what makes you take the next one and the one after that. By the time the "highs" go away, you are hooked. Pretty much like any drug.

I progressed with my addiction till I had a 2 1/2 pack a day habit in my mid twenties. This was not easy to do as I was not allowed to smoke at any job I had. That meant chain smoking was necessary during allowed time, to get in my quota. In those days we were told the worst that could happen to you if you smoked was that it could "stunt your growth." Well I was stunted before I started so that was not a big concern. In fact, I grew the most my senior year while I was smoking. Go figure.

When I was in my thirties, I was dating a guy that didn't smoke. Actually he was a rarity, most people I knew did smoke. My ex husband, all my dates and most of my friends did. This fellow had the courage to tell me that my breath was far from "kissable" and he really wanted me to quit. I was a bit stunned for one of the beauties of smoking is that you can't smell or taste much of anything. No one wants stinking breath,so I tried to quit and was shocked. I shook, sweat and snarled like a junkie as I tried to withdraw. I could not do it.

For the next 4 years, I tried off and on to quit, never making it much past 24 hours. I hated my weakness. For someone who prided themselves with being in control, I realized I wasn't. Then I got lucky, I almost died.

I had been having really bad sporadic stomach aches for a long time. Three doctors diagnosed me as having ulcers so I drank milk, ate a bland diet and consumed a ton of Maalox. For ten years I suffered with no real relief, the attacks still came. I was hospitalized twice but still the painful belly. Finally the same Doctor who had originally diagnosed me with ulcers, decided to check for gallstones. Surprise, that had been my problem all along, I had been passing gall stones for years.

By now, I was down to 105 pounds for I could only eat Jell-O without pain. Surgery was scheduled and I was thrilled that finally my problem would be fixed. When I awoke from surgery I was in a bunch of pain when a shot of Demoral found my behind. Off I floated. I kind of drifted in and out of consciousness for a couple of days. Every 4 hours the Demoral came to visit. For three hours I would sleep and for one hours while waiting for the shot, I was in pain.

One day when I was awaiting my shot, I asked the nurse with the needle if I had smoked a cigarette (Smoking in the hospital was allowed in those days.) She said that my ashtray was unused, so probably not. Good time to quit I thought as the shot of Demoral found its mark. This was the beginning of a long , bumpy ride..........