Advent, Day 23

[kyburg]

You know what I want for Christmas, right? No, it's pretty simple and doesn't change from year to year.

If you smoke, quit. If you don't smoke, bath fizzies will set you right every time.

Why is this?

I'm a child of the healthcare industry. My home away from home is likely going to be a hospital - I'm one of the very few people I know who actually feels at home stepping into an ER or urgent care. I visit people readily and often.

And I've seen enough victims of smoking-related disease to make this wish perpetual.

Scientists have unlocked the entire genetic code of two of the most common cancers - skin and lung - a move they say could revolutionise cancer care.

...

The lung cancer DNA code had more than 23,000 errors largely triggered by cigarette smoke exposure.

From this, the experts estimate a typical smoker acquires one new mutation for every 15 cigarettes they smoke.

And lung cancer is only at the top of a very, very, very long list that is printed in the smallest type imaginable. No, I mean it.

Please stop smoking.

And I'll see you tomorrow.

Comments

[yasha-chan.livejournal.com]

You were a big help in me quitting three years ago. Just wanted you to know. I think about it every time the holiday season comes around.

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with you. One of my aunts died of lung cancer in 1995, my dad has copd, mom has emphysema, my little niece has major asthma that was likely acquired (or at the least aggravated) by living in a house with 5 heavy smokers.
If you could get my mother past her seriously deep river of denial on any of this, I would be eternally grateful. Unfortunately, it's not likely.

[zpdiduda.livejournal.com]

Bath fizzies?

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Bath fizzies.

[thenakedcat.livejournal.com]

You don't know me, except by the fact that we both follow EK Weaver's LJs. However, I just want to add a FUCKIN' A-MEN to this.

My father's relatives are rural working-class from South Carolina. Some of them were tobacco farmers themselves. Almost everyone, bar a few of the women, from my grandparents' generation smoked INCESSANTLY. My father, growing up around them, thought he got carsick until he was old enough to drive himself, then he realized that he only got carsick when someone was smoking in the car with the windows rolled up. Because of that, Dad has never smoked.

My grandfather smoked for 40 years, until he was into his 60s. I was his first grandchild and the first girl born into the family in a generation. When I started refusing to give him a hug or a kiss if he smelled of cigarette smoke, he cut back big-time and then quit altogether. His doctor has told him he would not be alive today if he hadn't quit when he did.

It can be done and the reward is so worth it, so FUCKIN' A-MEN.