Hi, EX friends -- Today is the second time I've celebrated my birthday with all of you!! My daughters, Jenny and Katy and my granddaughter Kennedy came yesterday afternoon and spent the night. We all went to bingo together and had a wonderful time. Kind of hard to believe I'm in my late 60's now, but I always say it sure beats the alternative!!
This has been a really, really busy week. My workload at my new job has skyrocketed, and I've been putting in long hours at work (which is really okay, because I love the job and the people I work with). I had an appointment with the pulmonologist on Tuesday after the CT scan on Monday. She agreed that I'm dealing with GERD and that it's exacerbating my COPD. She put me on medication, and I'm hoping it will help, because I got a pulse oximeter and I'm running between 89 and 93 when I'm sitting, and I go as low as 85 just walking to my car from my office. I had the CT scan sent to her, and she confirmed that I have moderate to severe COPD. I just don't understand why my pulmonologist is so cavalier about it, so I think I'm going to find another pulmonologist.
I haven't been on the site to even read blogs lately (shame on me) and in going through the blogs yesterday I responded to Thomas's request for elders to say what they like best about quitting. I read the blogs yesterday and actually started this blog then, but my kids arrived and I left my computer. At any rate, I responded to his blog and I've really been thinking about it since then. I actually can't think of anything I DON'T like about being quit, but I know that the best part is not having to constantly plot how I'm going to get my fix. I remember so well that for many years the very first thing I would check out when entering someone's home, or a public place, was whether there were ashtrays there. Then, of course, there weren't any ashtrays anywhere, but my plotting only got worse. How could I escape to smoke at work, at the movies, at a restaurant? Do I really want to visit my non-smoking friends where it's going to be really hard to find a place to smoke and they'll think less of me? That is a constant stress that we don't really realize we're suffering until we quit and are free of it. Granted, the stress of the early days of a quit often masks that realization, but I can honestly say that after a year and 17 days of being quit, I see that behavior in others and I am grateful that I don't have it anymore.
And Jackie -- I thought it was great that you reached out to ask the newbies what they like best. I was scared and fully of anxiety when I quit last year, but it didn't take me very long to realize that quitting was the best thing I had ever done. I know there are a lot of others who feel that way as well, and you don't have to be quit for many years to see it. I think that's part of the beauty of this site -- while we're very focused on smoking, it's a healthy focus on the joys of NOT smoking. When I was new I heard that joy and aspired to it. I feel that joy and want to share it with the newbies here. You can SO do this and you can SO feel this joy as well!!
Love to all --
