Tuesday, March 19, 2013

How bad do you need that cigarette?

I use to smoke and I quit.   Was it easy?  NO.  Do I still crave a cigarette?  Most days.  But because I am a nurse I see the effects of smoking long term.  I have many young people come in thinking I have plenty of time to quit.  I also have many patients that will never quit.  To me if I had a choice of breathing or cigarette…ummm breathing would always win.  How ever there are many COPD patients that will smoke and then put their oxygen back in their nose.  Most understand that they can’t smoke with their o2 in their nose.  So what did my patient do?  She put her o2 in her right hand and her cigarette in the left hand.  Take a drag of cigarette and then a drag of pure O2.  What’s the problem…she went up in flames.  Luckily someone was there to put her out.  2nd degree burns to the lips, hands and chest.  3rd degree burns to her breast and finger tips.  Singed her hair close to the scalp.  We ended up flying her to a burn center.  I am sorry but I don’t need to smoke that bad.  I would hope that would be a wake up call to QUIT SMOKING DUMBASS.  She was a sweet as could be but I really want to say…here’s your sign.

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3 comments:

RedRaven said...

I had to laugh. I'm a horrible person.

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Yep, cigarettes were the hardest thing I had to quit. Milk was a close second tho, I suffered for years with pain in my knees every stinking time I drank milk and yet continued until just recently when the pain lasted nearly two weeks. I finally was able to quit milk and all that dairy crap but denial is so strong that I asked my husband for a milkshake the other day and he asked what Milkshake's first name was !~! I nearly died laughing at myself and at how deep runs the addiction....and the denial.

Yeah, Oxygen isn't enough for some, is it !~!

Texan Zombie Goddess said...

My husbands' mom died from emphysema and smoked until the day she did. I loved the fact that she had a "No Smoking" sign on her front door, and a carton of cigarettes sitting in front of her.

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