NINE years today my friends, NINE! Thanks to all my fellow supporters. Looking forward to 10 years next ;D

Rich

Huge Congratulations to you Rich!!!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit “from the other side”!

It is always helpful for us less than a year folks in particular I think when folks stop in and show us where they are and tell about the freedom they’ve obtained. 
Let us know if you can some details. What it’s like now, any thoughts ever? When did that all stop for you? Did you notice big difference at some point in first year like some did here? Some say 4 months was like magic, some say 6, etc. 
 

Thank you for leading the way and coming back to encourage and reassure!! It is one of the things that I really look forward to from my Forum Family (you would be one of the Elders) and it really helps!

Celebrate the day today for your tremendous accomplishment!!

Thanks Eve!  When I get a shot in the hip next week I'll go out riding to celebrate. I'm mindful that if I was still smoking I'd never been able to pay cash for a new bike. Cheers to you..

Rich

Thank you. I had so many milestones it would be hard to outline in one message. There were defo up/downs over the months, even years for me, but I was a very heavy aggressive smoker, 2+ pks a day.  I have saved thousands from my quit though, but the best part is I'm FREE in any situation like visiting someone, or being stuck in the hospital for weeks, etc, you name it. I've made it through funerals without huddling outside in the rain with other family members. So far, I have been able to do NOPE, not one puff since 5th, 2011.  It is liberating and I just couldn't of made it 9 years without coming back here regularly to chat to new and old friends.

There is indeed 'clicks' that most of us felt. For me, it was 4 months. I had just gotten a cottage in WV and was driving 200miles a day to repair and remodel and prep it for rentals.  I always had to have a cig to stand outside and admire my work.  I had just installed a dozen custom windows and stood in the yard sucking on a candy sucker and realized I was free of that selfish reward a cig used to give me.  Others in my group were good at 3 months, so your mileage will vary. There are various other certain times of the first two year that applied as well. Its a long journey on a narrow path that winds up and down, and narrow and wide, muddy and dry.

Despair not, our Angels leave a fresh pair of sneakers at the back door of the clubhouse to help you get to year two, compliments of my elders and a cute lady called Pancake ;D

I posted from one year to year 8 milestones if you want to go deeper in my mindset all those years.  Others like Frank's diaries outlined many hardships won and lost.  We created the 'tricky 8-11 months' thread to help many that would lose a quit in that time period.  I was never shy about giving someone the business for taking a puff, but quick to support and hold a hand on the next attempt by anyone.

If there is one thing you take away from me, is this forum works, the mods are wise and very patient, lol, ask Dee, Vicki and T about my temperament in the first few months coming down from nicotine ;D  I still call them my fairy God Mothers, especially Dee, my very favorite Diva ;)

Any particular questions, ask away.  I can remember every step along the way, even the ones with cancer after years of not smoking. This thread was meant just to scare newbies into quitting cause we never will know who has the genes to become ill from this or make it to 90 without a cough.

Hang in there, and I'll be looking forward to your own milestone postings :D

Take care Lore... Thanks for your kind words.

Rich

Oh thank you so much Rich! 
I really appreciate the detailed reply. I’m so very happy for you!! Celebrate today your milestone as I’m sure you celebrate every day. 
It does sound as though you were a pretty heavy smoker. What an example for all of us! Please don’t take this in a negative way, but it does show that this is doable when there is an “Elder” among is who is 9 years out and previously smoked heavily. I mean Elder in your quit, not in age!! 
You are a cancer survivor too???

Wow. I will be thinking about you a lot today and just knowing how possible this is makes it a wonderful journey. I’m in middle of my 3rd month. I really want this now for sure. Can’t say I was ever going to be ready as I think that is the nature of nicotine. Desire can bring one through a lot though, yes?

Thank you again, and thanks so much for coming back!!

http://forums.delphiforums.com/quit_smoking/messages/5839/1

I decided to post a milestone since I'm still up and wired ;p

Aye, I had lung cancer beginning with the first message of this thread. Operated on 3 years ago and still in remission.

I used to use cigs to lengthen workdays, as when I worked I'd be hours from home and could do jobs in less days.

3rd to 5th month is trying, you have to dig deep. Remember, a crave only lasts as long as having a smoke, or about 5-7 minutes.  One puff leads to a pack, that defeats every minute you suffered.  Just know the longer you hold out the easier it gets.  It can rear its ugly head about 9months or so, but read the tricky 8-11 thread, very helpful and we aired out many many ways to stay on your quit.  I quit with a smoking wife, so OWN your quit and do it only for you, and you won't have to hide any guilty feelings about your journey.  Make a list of reasons you're quitting and post them on your dashboard and your refrigerator. When your driving out at 2am for a pack of smokes look at that note and resist going into teh 7/11 and breaking your quit, etc.

This is all outlined in hundreds of messages here of course, but they are tools that will get you to the finish line.

Take care sweetie, see you around,

Rich

Wow...I think lung cancer is the scariest thing ever. I’m so happy it sounds like it was caught pretty early for you. Thank God. 
Did you start one of those screening programs and that is how it was found or did you get symptoms?

im curious about this because I’m 58 and have 35+ years smoking. My doctor has put in request for me to have the yearly low dose lung cancer screening because of age and history. I’m going to do it but now am waiting for them to start the elective testing things back up. 
Wow Rich! I am so happy for you!! You are definitely an inspiration and I LOVE your winged Giraffe!

Im definitely guarding my quit. With everything I’ve got. It is literally sacred to me. I feel stronger every day for sure, but would not dare stray from being on here every single day. I am grateful beyond words for my Forum Family.  
 

Ok, so I hope you don’t mind, but I have started at page one of your journal, and I’m hooked on your story! I also now know about getting your cancer diagnosis so don’t feel inclined to answer that part of my post. 
Are you still in the US or in the UK? 
My daddy was a carpenter. Smoked all his life, quit at 72 for a few years cause he had a bypass, then went back to 3 smokes a day. Camel no filters. He also smoked his pipe 3-4 times a day. Died at 94. Had been up fixing his roof the day before. Some people just have those genes. It is playing roulette though for anyone to bank on that, and a gambler I’m not.

But look at you with that family history of cardiac issues at a young age! Wow. I say again, you are an inspiration and a survivor. 
Celebrate your day in the biggest way possible!!!

Thank you!

Be my guest, I wrote this and kept it updated so it would scare some people into protecting their quit with everything they have.  Best screening is a lung xray, yearly, so they can compare pictures. IF they want to see more detail they will make you get a CT or a Pet CT.  I had a slight cough and an xray showed I had stage 3a non small cell and a tumor the size of a chicken egg hanging from the left lob.  I've very lucky to have survived this, and it only took 6 months to get that bad. Lots of chemo and pet scans, then I had an embolism which delayed the op another 3 months. It was an ordeal.  Then a week after surgery my wife was struck down with leukemia.  We are both in remission and doing better though.

Aye, the men in my family all died around 38', I only survived because of modern medicine and my heart valve has been controlled by a beta blocker since I was36'ish.  Crazy, cause I still smoked another twenty years ;(

Cheers

Rich