BBjeff, We Wish You Success

BBJeff who is unknown to me wrote the followings on my blog's comment page under the topic Another Reason To Quit Smoking :
I just turned 36. After 16 years of smoking about 25-30 sticks a day, I've just quit for the first time on 1st Jan 2008.Nicotine patches do help cut the craving by about 70%. For the rest of the 30% I sniff a vicks inhaler and eat sweets to kill the craving.Its been 8 days now ... The side effects of not smoking ... Extreme tiredness esp after lunch, but the nice part is, my stamina to play football has increased visibly while playing football after only one week of quitting.Wish me luck guys.
Monday, January 07, 2008.

When I read those admission by bbjeff, I felt elated that I immediately wrote to my comrades in arm over the stop smoking campaign namely Akmal and Hantu Laut requesting their cooperation to help bbjeff by encouraging him to be strong willed to fight the desire to give up.

Akmal responded by writing this:

Pak Zawi,
Allow me to respond to bbjeff.
bbjeff,
You made the first and second step already; resolution and action. I bet, now you are facing the withdrawal symptoms, which is the frenzy part of quitting smoking. But you see, what you do right now is noble.I'm with you.
Thursday, January 10, 2008

Hantu Laut have yet to respond but I guess he will do so in due course. It may not be due to our effort that bbjeff wanted to stop but nevertheless we are elated that there is somebody out there who has decided to stop and has taken the step to quit as Akmal aptly described it, bbjeff made the first two steps already, resolution and action. Thus far we consider him as on the way to success.

Closer to home, my sister in law's husband, Tuan Haji Hussin Musa has decided to stop too. At the age of 66, Tuan Haji Husin had been smoking for the past 50 years since the age of 16. Though he had reduced his addiction to a pack of 12 sticks of Gudang Garam per day, he couldn't stop it entirely despite the urgings of close family members including his daughter in law who is a doctor and does autopsy at one of the district hospital in Selangor. She had seen too many damaged lungs due to ciggarette related diseases.

After 50 years of smoking ciggarettes Tuan Haji Husin finally decided to quit.

What made him stop abruptly on 1st December 2007?

Dato' Dr. Ashaari Yaakob of IJN had told him matter of factly that he won't do an operation on him unless the patient stop smoking 6 weeks before a bypass is done. Xrays done on his lung on previous preliminary visits to IJN showed his lung to have enlarged lumens, the minute tubes leading to the bronchioles where oxygen is absorbed into the blood. Tuan Haji Husin is due to be warded on 28th Januari 2008 before the by pass will be done on him. He needs to do bypass on two of his blocked veins which is already 100 percent closed leaving only 3 functioning ones.
That did it. He has to stop and stop immediately he did. To tide his craving for ciggarette he is taking some sweets as a temporary measure.

My son Azuan quitted smoking soon after being hospitalised for removal of a blood clot in his brain. Here he is with his uncle Tuan Haji Hussin.

Do you have to wait for the doctors at IJN to tell you to stop smoking before you can make yourself strong enough to quit smoking?

Here are some pictures taken from the following sites to show how lungs infected with smoking diseases look like and you can read more at the same sites where the pictures were copied:

http://www.smokinglungs.com/cyber-gallery/

http://www.smokinglungs.com/

Cerebellar Metastasis: This image shows an operative photograph of a craniotomy (circular opening in the scull) through which can be seen an area where a lung cancer metastasis to the cerebellar area of the brain has been surgically removed. This patient is alive and well ten years later.

A diseased lung seen via an endoscope

This image is that of a lobe of the lung resected at surgery containing a large squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

It will be interesting to see how Akmal will keep the fire of the campaign to help people quit smoking going through his next post on the same subject. Hit it Akmal.

Thai Pubs To Be Smoke-free

The Star of 12th January 2008 reported that Thailand has introduced a new rule to tighten an earlier restrictions which ban smoking in restaurants. Now the non smoking zone is extended to pubs too. Beginning from Feb 17th, 2008 this ban will be in force. Knowing the Thai authorities, they will strictly enforce it. Non smokers will have an easier life breathing in pubs in Thailand compared to in Malaysia where smoking is still allowed.

The Thai Authorities is of the view that smoking is so pernicious that they have a duty to protect their citizen.

Why can't Malaysia take a lesson from the Thais?

A close friend forwarded this to me, I paste it here as the way it came. Hope you will enjoy reading it.

I am PETER STUYVESANT. Come from the city of MARLBORO, whose main business is in Storing Salt (GUDANG GARAM). Said good-bye to my two close comrades, BENSON & HEDGES. I traveled up to the mountains of METHAHORN(Matherhorn?). Through the valleys of MILD SEVEN. Riding on my WHITE HORSE. There, I fell in love with 2 EVEs. One with the daughter of MASTER DUKE. Two with the grand daughter of ROTHMANS. We checked in at the house of DUNHIL. Land booked into room 555 STATE EXPRESS. Put on the aircon to COOL. I laid them onto the bedsheet made of GOLD LEAF. One cried in delight "you are a ROUGH RIDER". The other "As though you are riding on a CAMEL" Spading the SPADE. Huh… not long after, they asked for MORE. No.. Not now.. I KENT.

~source:unknown. Revised Version1.

Original taken from Blogspot: Hok Kawe.