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Jenn H's avatar

My relative who smoked the longest died the earliest. Years of coughing fits, then years of trundling an oxygen canister around everywhere he went. They say emphysema, which is what he had, is like trying to breathe through a straw.

The ex-smokers I know are extremely glad they quit. Glad to be free from the constant need to light up again, free from the smell and the coughing, free from the expense.

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Bill McKenney's avatar

I'm so glad that you wrote that letter to Luc. As a former smoker, I know how difficult it was for me to quit, and in the context of a society that accepts and to some extent approves the habit, it must be even more difficult. And your observation that each of us have our own histories, and out own particular paths to healthy life is quite on point., Still I know where you're coming from: I've traveled mostly in Italy, France, Spain and Ireland, whee social acceptance of smoking has declined somewhat. But only somewhat.

My father was an MD, specialized in internal medicine and ultimately, cardiology. Sadly, he continued to smoke. He had a heart attack at age 52, followed by quadruple bypass. Eleven years later, at age 63, he died at Pittsburgh's Presbyterian Hospital, waiting of a heart transplant that never became available. The irony is overwhleming sometimes.

So don't apologize too much for your advice to young people. Your concern for Luc is genuine, and your letter to him reflects that. And it sure resopnted with me. Thank you.

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