I wanted to quit for 20 years, then I quit 38 months ago.  I am 61 years old.  I smoked my first cigarette when I was 16.  That’s a long time by anybody’s measure.  I actually finally quit on August 17, 2005.  I enjoy Math, well usually I do.  Even when I am helping my 15 year old grandson with his homework.  But here is some Math that is unsettling.

Let’s make my smoking experience simple in Math terms.  Let’s say that I smoked for 40 years.

* first ten years – 1 pack a day at $1 per pack
* second ten years – 2 packs per day at $1.50 per pack
* third ten years -2 packs per day at $2.00 per pack
* last ten years – 1 pack per day at $3.00 per pack.

OK, let’s calculate what smoking cost me in out of pocket dollars for my cigarette purchases.

* first ten years ………. $ 3650.00
* second ten years…….$10950.00
* third ten years………. $14600.00
* last ten years……….. $10950.00
* Total Cash Paid……….$40150.00

Now this $40,000.00 does not take into account the time value of money or the relative buying power of a 1970 dollar versus today’s dollar.  If you assume 5% interest yearly then that $40,000 becomes about $120,000.  Additional costs would be lighters, drycleaning, damaged suits and other clothes, damaged vehicles, furniture and rugs.  How about reduced resale value of vehicles and houses?  Now let’s consider time off sick and medical expenses.  If we consider all of the above, the cost of my smoking would be far in excess of $250,000.00 in today’s dollars.

That does not take into consideration my limited income potential during the past couple of years as I suffered from COPD.  Probably all in all the estimate should be about $400,000.00.  The future cost for me is uncertain, dependent on how much lung capacity I recoup.

I am running out these numbers to drive home the out of pocket costs of smoking.  This does not even take future health costs into account.  One last calculation, let’s assume 1 pack per day at a cost of $4.00 per pack going forward.  If I were smoking now, then my out of pocket cost for one year would be almost $1500 per year.  That’s a week on Paradise Island in Nassau.  That’s my wife and I out for dinner in a nice restaurant fifteen times.  That’s probably my natural gas bill for the year.

Quitting’s tough.  Do it.  Take pills, wear patches, chew gum, get shots, take therapy sessions, use self hypnosis, literally whatever it takes.

I do not know how old you are but let me paint you a real life picture.  I played hockey during my teens, I was pretty good but not good enough for the pros.  I was active outside all my life with hockey, tennis, fishing, horses and for 5 years, residential construction.  Remember I’m 61.  At 50 I was fine.  Sure my sinus colds each Spring and Fall were lasting longer, but nothing serious I thought.  What happened is that I got too successful as a contractor and started spending all my time in the truck or supervising my crews, no activity, continued smoking.

I rapidly went from a reasonably healthy 50 to a sick 55.  By 57 my doctor said “Quit or pick out a headstone.”

I quit, it took me from May to August, but I did it.  Somewhere between 50 and 57 my lungs had had enough.  A specialist told me I had COPD and I got a handicap sign for my truck.  Don’t laugh. My breathing was so bad that I couldn’t walk 50 yards without stopping for a rest, stairs forget it.  10 years before I was playing ice hockey in a men’s league with 20 and 30 year olds.

Now that I do not smoke, I can smell cats in the homes of friends which is not a good thing.  But I can now smell all sorts of things that are totally new to me.  How did my wife tolerate my stench?  If you think you can hide your smoking habit from a parent or mate…you are sadly mistaken.  All those years I thought I was being so cute…Now you know a bit about me and I have one final point to make.

The COPD doctor shared with me that lung capacity can not recover from the damage caused by smoking.   He showed me graphs and explained that all lungs degrade with age.  A smoker’s lungs degrade much faster than a nonsmoker’s lungs.  The best an exsmoker can hope for is that the degradation rate will return to that of a nonsmoker.  The lost capacity is lost forever.  He tested me and my dissolved Oxygen result was lower than that of a live person.  We were both concerned. I got some meds from him.  My wife and I established some routines for me and I started some breathing exercises.  I also started with an exercise bike.  Six months later the lung doctor tested me again.  My result was better which was impossible in his experience.  Six months later, my result improved again.

I am here to say that you can recover some of your lung capacity but it is not easy. The meds may help a bit but the real deal is the combination of exercise and diet.  I maintain several short sessions on the bike and breathing exercises every day.  Initially it was the Atkins diet, but now we just follow a low carb healthy diet.  My weight dropped 20 plus pounds in 7 months.  I starting to do yard work.  Improving slowly.  Now it’s over 3 years since I quit and my weight is down to the low 180’s, that’s over 30 pounds.  Still have 10 to go at least. Just a little bit each day…

Let me finish with a rant.  Back in the 70’s when I skipped a few hours or even a day of cigarettes, I noticed it but it was maybe uncomfortable but tolerable.  In the 80’s, 90’s and up until I quit, if I missed an hour without a cigarette, well you get the idea.  Why the change in addiction?

I agree with some of the whispered reports about Phillip Morris and other tobacco companies.  I think they juiced up the cigarettes back in the 70’s and then again in 80’s when they saw the popularity of cigarettes wane.  I think that movie was just too close to the truth.

On a less serious note, when I tried to quit by chewing gum, it tasted like an ashtray.  Now they have cherry flavored gum.  What’s up with that? Is that Phillip Morris again?  Back in the 80’s they did not want us to quit.  Now that they are fully diversified and have convinced the courts that they cannot possibly be liable for any cancer deaths, hey they probably developed the cherry flavor to help people quit, just cashing in a little political correctness.

The message is quit.  Quit because of your health, your money, your wife, your kids, just quit.  If you have quit, then exercise and diet.  With the resolve of the tortoise you may get your lungs back in working order.

Check here for more information on smoking and how to quit.  There will also be information on what to do after you quit.  How to get your lungs back.

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