Anyone who comes to visit this site and is taking a look see, who is contemplating to quit smoking...especially if you are young, please read this! This is MY story! I am 60 years old and have been smoking since I was 16 years old. I started smoking because all my friends were. Lame excuse, I know that now. I have not known what it's like to not smoke after all these years! I tried to quit many times. By the age of 19, that was my first time I tried to quit and I was already hooked. I tried to quit several times since and the older I get, the harder it has become...like I said...it's been a way of life for me. I was diagnosed with advanced COPD and walking trhough Walmart tires me out! After shopping, I come home and I feel like I need to take a nap! There are days when my breathing is terribly labored, that I can't wait to get back home and just sit or lay down! If you are young and do not quit, this could very well be your plight! I am more confident that I can quit this time around because I feel that I have the right tools and this web site to lean on and find out information, not to mention receive encouragement from others here. Spring is here and I can open my windows and let the fresh air in and get the disgusting smell of smoke out! I can enjoy the nice weather and start walking to improve my lungs. Maybe even beable to walk the 8 blocks down the main drag in my small town that are lined with shops or maybe I will be able to walk the 5 blocks to get to the park. A friend of mine's mother passed away last year at the age of 68. She was a smoker and couldn't quit and she died from COPD. I saw a lady the other day in a wheel chair with an oxygen tank, she too was a smoker. I don't know what's going to happen to me...I want to cry...I want to go back in time and slap the heck out of my 16 year old self! So, if you are young, you have a good chance to recover! Do not wait...stop now! My last years on this planet I hope to be able to walk and enjoy the wonderful sights. To be able to breath and feel good and not be so tired anymore. To be able to sleep through the night and wake up feeling refreshed. Smoking is serious business, stopping or never starting is bliss. I want to be able to say that I am a non smoker and know what it feels like.
