I dedicate my 2 years quit
to my best friends brother....
from: purplkoala 9/28/2011

My best friend, Linda, just lost her brother, Michael, whom I have know since he was about 14 or 15 years old, to lung cancer on August 24, 2001. He was only 41 years old and he left behind 3 children and a wife. I have not seen Michael in a very long time but I think the thing that I remember the most, and have told my hubby this a few times, was how shocked he was when he found out that I love the Doors music. LOL... I know that Linda made the last 5 months of Michael's life as happy as she was able to, if I know Linda.... Michael, a lot of people loved you and you are missed so very much by all of your family and friends. I dedicate my 2 year anniversary to you, Michael.

I still, after all this time, cannot believe that I have really been quit for 2 years. It doesn't seem real and yet, there are no cigs or ashtrays or ashes, and there were always a lot of ashes, on my desk. I don't run to the store to buy them. I don't stop what I am doing to light one and then have to clean up the mess when I am done. But it still doesn't seem real. I find that rather strange. I remember when I first started thinking and talking w/ hubby about quitting... I was scared.... lol, gee all of this is in my profile...

OK...let's see... I have decided, after seeing the television special "Women and Cigs," to tell my doctor that I want to have an MRI on my lungs. I want to know if there is anything there so that if, on the off change there is, it can be treated now, not 10 or 20 years from now. I am telling him, not asking him. I want to know. I have had some problems w/ breathing if I walk up stairs, or to the mailbox and back. It could be from other things, but when I am sitting in my chair and I can hardly talk because I am breathing so hard, it makes me wonder. It's probably just being over weight, not that I am a ton overweight, but still, that could be the problem or it might not be... Anyway, my mind is made up and if the Doctor gives me a hard time, I am blasting him. LOL...

Years ago, I had a new doctor and on my first visit, she told me that we were going to discuss my quitting smoking. I thought, "sh*t.".... but I said, "No, we are not." She turned around and looked at me and said, "What?" (Gulp - LOL) I said, "No, we are not going to discuss my quitting smoking. If I want to quit, I will quit but nothing you can say to me will make me quit so we are not going to discuss it." She was definitely shocked and not happy and said, "I am going to order a chest ex-ray for you." Had the ex-ray and on the next visit I waited for her to say something but she didn't....... she had to leave the room for a moment so I jumped up and looked in my chart (lol). The ex-rays read "clear." I thought, HA, HA!!!! Well, she came back in the room and I asked her about them and she mumbled that they came back clear.... like she wasn't happy or something, geeee!!! I felt so darn smug, thinking I had one up on her. After watching the special Women and Cigs, my bubble was burst when I learned that having your chest ex-rays come back "clear" doesn't mean a darn thing... because things don't show up on a chest ex-ray the way they do on an MRI... Ever since then, I have been wondering about this, so I finally decided that I am going to have the test done once and for all. I guess I am a little scared but I figure, if something is there and I don't find out until it is too late, I will be more than a little scared. So, I hope to have this done by the end of the year. I have an appointment on October 3rd, and I will discuss it with the doctor then. I'll let you know how things go.

So, now I move on and continue to add more time to my quit. I really have this thing w/ my numbers, but I guess you have noticed that by now. I am obsessed w/ them!! LOL. But I also LOVE being a non smoker, and I will forever be so glad that one day my hubby said, "Babe, let's quit smoking." and I said, "OK, I will if you will." Because that was the start of it all... and that brought me to where I am today, 2 years Quit, obsessed w/ my numbers and at the Q, where I found a ton of wonderful people that I call my friends and whom I care about very deeply. I really do love you guys!!!! Thank you for being here with me during the good and the bad and for sharing my life w/ me.

Valerie 2 YEARS!!!!!!! and..... lol,

Two years, 11 hours, 25 minutes and 6 seconds. 13166 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,316.66.
Life saved: 6 weeks, 3 days, 17 hours, 10 minutes, at 12:20PM, September 27, 2001.


Update: My friend, Linda passed away from liver disease in October 2010. I miss her every day.