I quit smoking a pipe about 5 years ago, after about 30 years. Recently, the dentist removed some suspicious tissue with a lazer from the roof of my mouth.

I had a 2nd, much more extensive proceedure today, which involved using a lazer to remove tissue from an area about the size of a silver dollar, for safety sake.


Hurts like hell, today, and probably for the next week or so-will really appreciate those pain killers. But it's my fault for being so careless. A long-time music partner of mine never smoked, but had 1/2 his tongue removed in a 25 hour operation, has a 25% chance of 5 year survival and is living off a feeding tube, all because of smoke from years of playing smoke filled bars (I was right there with him most of those years). He'll never be able to sing or even talk again. Being a singer was all that mattered to him, and he was the most successful pro in this area. He told me last week that he had just decided that he still wanted to live, but for a long time, he didn't want to.


Please, for your own sake and the sake of those you love, DON'T SMOKE!


Russ

[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 01-06-2009).]

Its not that simple or easy to do Russ its a serious double dosed addiction Physically & Mentally.....I did it 25 years ago cold turkey after smoking 18 years before that....you can talk till your blue in the face to people it wont help .....only the person that WANTS to stop smoking can make the decision to mentally & physically stop otherwise its a losing battle...no matter what......just do a google search and you see millions of stories on quitting......
its a drug addiction only you can cure....


With that said at least you took the initiative to get help & I wish you all the best in getting healthy.....without good health nothing means anything in this world .....
http://www.presmark.com/htmlfile/pictures.htm


NUF SAID!

good luck

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-06-2009).]

Better out than in, Russ!

I wanted my wife to quit for years, but she wasn't ready to. Finally, she decided it was time and with the help of a drug called chantix, kicked it 100% in about 6 weeks. She's never relapsed, its been over a year and a half, so hopefully, she's safe...

I too have heard it was addictive, but I don't think that applies to everyone. I smoked for several years when I was younger and when I decided to stop smoking, I just quit...period. I didn't feel sick, I didn't lose my mind, get depressed, kick the dog, etc...

I think I'm one of the lucky ones...

Good health to all!

------------------
Bill in Dayton

Well, with that story of your friend's condition, I guess the post topic should have been "Don't let ANYONE smoke (at least in public)"!

But try to get THAT legislation passed, and you'll hear the howls of protest... Perhaps every protester needs to write your friend a letter, explaining how their need for nicotine was more important than HIS life?

Down here in Florida, things have been smoke free for a few years. I can't tell you what a horror it is to go into a bar that still allows smoking (as long as they don't serve ANY food, it's OK, but food is a major source of profit, so there are very few) now, after getting used to clean air where I play...

Any time someone asks me "Do you mind if I smoke?", I go "Do you mind if I fart?"... It only seems fair

Diki...You had on the floor laughing at this one lol



------------------
createsongstyles.com

I am so glad that Penna has finally going smoke free....I will not eat sleep or any other thing in a business that condones smoking..It is a filthy habit that has killed to many already...It only takes a little brains to figure out...

Sometimes we need to insult people to wake them up...

My story is similar to Donnys. With the help of a 6-week hospital-based program, I quit cold-turkey after the third week but continued to the end of the program just to see those who hadn't yet quit, squirm. That was about 20+ yrs. ago and I have not touched a single cigarette since. I still can't believe that I subjected my wife and children to that, though. I feel bad about that to this day. A good friend of mine died (horribly) of lung cancer and never smoked a day in his life. His wife, who's still alive and going strong, smoked/smokes two packs a day. Never underestimate the power of second-hand smoke. Although she is a very nice lady, I still can't shake the feeling that she killed my friend, Mac. I'll get flack but I really feel smoking should be banned everywhere (well, except medically-indicated weed). In fact, I knew a jazz musician buddy (well, as much as a jazz musician can BE anybody's buddy) who quit smoking weed for fear he would get re-hooked on cigarettes. Go figure.

So, snuff that butt before your butt gets snuffed.

chas

BTW: I think we need to be firm with our families while they are growing up..

My Mother smoked into the last year she passed ..

My Father smoked until he quit..Didn't smoke the last 35 years of his life...They both set an example for me...Smoking is for dummies...

I never smoked..my wife never smoked..my 4 kids never smoked...their spouses never smoked...and my 6 grandchildren don't smoke...I give this household an A plus..

Forgot to mention my brother never smoked either..

[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 01-06-2009).]

Good for you Chas....NJ is smoke free also....I remember playing night clubs when I Couldn't even see the audience thru the spotlights & smoke My wife still smokes but stays away from me doing it outside.

Funny how many Clubs are "smoke free"...& people preach health .......meanwhile they drink their arses off all night long
so in the end what's worse?

It's funny how all the restaurants and nightclubs swore blue bloody murder that they would all go out of business if a smoking ban was enacted...

And yet, here they still are, still making money

smoke is worse..we don't inhale another's booze..

No-one died from second hand alcohol (unless you count a drunk driver, and that's a choice, not an inevitable conclusion)

Russ ... So sorry to hear this news ... Get well quick my friend .. you are in our prayers ...

t.

My response has been "I don't care if you BURN!!! ... Just don't do it around me!" ...

I started when I was 15/16, smoked cigs until I was 31 .. quit, then smoked a pipe for a while, then went to cigars ... still smoke a cigar on the golf course or while working outside the house (as long as Lydia doesn't have the windows open ) ...
So during the Winter months I MIGHT have one a month (can't remember the last one and my memory isn't that bad YET) or less but during the warm months it's probably 2/3 per week ... not a lot, but still excessive, I guess ...
Might be a good time to quit ...
t.

PS RI has been 'smoke free' for a while, and it certainly DOES make a difference playing gigs ... no more 'smoke hangover' the morning after ...
t.

PPS ... and I remember when you could smoke on a PLANE !!! ... "Smoking or non-smoking seat, sir? .. "Non-smoking, thank you" ... and you end up in the row directly behind a chain smoker !!!
What a farce that was!
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 01-06-2009).]

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 01-06-2009).]

Well, not all of them.

Many private clubs and a few bars I know of in the Dayton area have either cut back on live music, dropped live music altogether or in the extreme cases, actually closed their doors.

Non smoking rules aren't the only reason, but their certainly in the mix, make no mistake...

------------------
Bill in Dayton

Same happened round here, but they came back...

Apparently, there is still a good profit in selling beer and liquor!

To be honest, I can't think of anywhere that had music before the ban that doesn't still have it... but maybe that's simply because you don't need to chain smoke to stand the musicians round here

(You know I'm joking, don't you? )

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 01-06-2009).]

Smoking is banned in all public buildings here in Nova Scotia...and you are not allowed to smoke in your car if there is a child with you...it's a law.

You also must be a certain distance away from a public building entrance if you plan on smoking outside.

There was a dip in club attendance at first, but it went back up to about the same a few months after the ban...people still like to drink and party.

I remember when the restaurant I worked in had a "no smoking" section...kind like having a "no peeing" section in a swimming pool.

Ian

I remember how my equipment smelled when I got it home! PHEW!! Gave up Cigs about 8 yrs now smoked for too many!! Mom and Dad died of Cancer, Dad lung (he was a Pennsylvania coal miner in his youth)Bad Nasty Ugly habit!!!
Good Luck Capt Russ!!

Goes to show you how really addictive smoking is.....just look outside of most any business & you'll see people gathered up puffing away.......as far as second hand smoke .....dont kid yourself you have no idea what we're breathing out here with carcinogens, exhausts, polluted air etc, then add some drinking alchohol & watch yourself die slowly., then again we're all dieing the minute we're born

Something I've noticed since not being exposed to as much second hand smoke as in the past................When I am, I absolutely HATE it. I grew up around a smoking Father, who has since quit. All the family gatherings with the "adult" table full of smokers. Every restaurant, bar, stadium, park, ect where smoking was allowed.....never bothered me as much as it does now. I go to much greater lengths today to avoid any smoking environments. Places like the local Elks, Eagles, American Legion and other non-smoking exempt places seem to be the only havens for smokers anymore. Now I hear about third hand smoke................Who would have ever thought things would be this way 25 years ago? -charley

btw......what about smokers rights?
....remember smoking is still LEGAL....
ask yourself WHY it still is?
I say let the people vote on it next election & let the pieces fall where they may.......but that will never happen....why?... $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ & lots of it

I have gear that STILL smells of smoke !!!

t.

Russ,
I hope you recover quickly and completely!

By the way EVERYONE in my Family smoked...I am the only one that never has. Parents are dead..Enphazema & heart. Thanks goodness my brother quit...but smoked for 30 years.

Unfortunatly both my kids smoke...but want to stop. Only they can do it. But, I still bust there butt about now & then.

Lee

Now I hate the smell of tobacco smoke and am glad the clubs and bars I play in around California are all non smoking.

But you gotta understand why a lot of smokers including myself years ago started despite it being so bad for us. Simple .... !!!! we didn't know it at the time. When I started smoking in the early 60s the link to cancer wasn't known about by the general public and advertising we were watching on TV encouraged us all to smoke and made it appear desirable to do so. It is no wonder so many teenagers back then became willing nicotine addicts. It wasn't until much later after we had all got well and truly hooked were we told it really gonna kill us in the end.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 01-07-2009).]

Masters of Manipulation: Tobacco-industry Tactics...
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-28826-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

In europe & beyond smoking is still the norm everywhere........smoking will never be totales illegal because its a billion dollar business with millions of workers & people making tons of money of it growing & sales....thats the bottome line.....they dont care about you or cancer.

Not to hi-jack the thread, but the same goes for the food industry. A while back I was going through some extensive tests for chest pain (cardiac was ruled out, thank God) ... I was taking a 'cardiac preventive maintenance' program and there was a chef from one of RI's high end restaurants giving a talk ... He said "Remember one thing... in a restaurant, our job is to make food taste good ... that means salt and fat ... we cannot be concerned with the public's health issues" ...
t.

Not quite true...smoking is banned in ALL enclosed and semi enclosed public places in the UK (Great Britian) that includes bars, clubs, and just about anywhere where public gather.

Maybe not so much in the UK but more so then the USA at this time. Remember its still LEAGAL>

Yes... this isn't prohibition. You are still free to smoke in your own home, or away from non-smokers.

Just keep it away from me. Or I'm going on an all bean diet

Diki,just read that a cup of pinto beans a day will significantly lower your colesterol (sp?)..


BTW, really good sense of humor. you may have missed your calling.


R.

It'll also lower your social life

I'm English.... once you lose an empire THAT big, all you have left is a sense of humor

I just hope the US can develop one after we (I live here, now) lose our pre-eminence this century, too

Diki, that's the kind of observation that sometimes ruffles people, but, I gotta say, you produce more dead on "hits" than "misses".

The historic similarities are attention-getting, to say the least.

Russ

Man, you can really tell if a guitar has been used in a smoky bar. all the binding turns yellow. I took a quick look this morning, and I've got lots of Fender instruments that used to be white, but are now a nasty yellow tobacco color. Same with the binding on some otherwie cherry old Gibsons.


Nasty stuff!


Russ

Russ how about guitar players who keep a lit cigarette squeezed in the top of the strings on stage!!!

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/archive/index.php/t-1260755.html

I've seen lots of good instruments, and a lot of old cloth covered Fender amplifiers damaged that way!


R.