Last January I said to myself:
“Self, you are over 60 with knee surgery looming. Remember how you were scolded last time after surgery? They promised dire consequences if you didn’t stop smoking. They wouldn’t tell what had happened during 4 hours of surgery. Scared us a bit, right? We promised to quit. Remember Self? Did we quit? Hell no. F-Fwd 2 years – a small broken bone in the foot, a 30 minute surgery to put in a tiny plate and tinier screws and once again, the anesthetist read us the riot act. Did we listen? No.
So, Self. It’s here again. 3 years older. 3 years’ worth of further lung damage. What to do? We know we can’t quit forever. How to survive this operation?”
But Self and I (yes both of us), went online to explore. We EXplored till we found EX. We joined in January, quit smoking end Feb, (and promised ourselves we need only quit till end April … because staying quit was not possible).
On April 25th we received not only a new knee … but high 5’s from everyone in theatre who remembered us from 5 years ago. Aced the op. Healed in half the time compared to first op and marvelled that we’d considered reneging on our quit after those 2 months of effort and learning and accepting.
Even while wandering around No Man’s Land, dazed and confused, and high on pain meds, smoking was not an option. My private promise to get my “life back” after the op by going back to smoking, seemed ludicrous and uneducated and just shameful!
Mantra – N.O.P.E.
Attitude – “stop fighting”.
Result – acceptance, freedom, tasting, smelling (the good stuff), pocket money and a well-functioning knee.
Outcome – 310 Days of Freedom. 55 days till I join the Wise Elder’s list.
Promise – never try Week 1 again! Self and I will not survive it a second time.
Newbies, future quitters, current 'unsures':
THIS JOURNEY – SO WORTH IT. TRAVEL WITH US ALL THE WAY! PLEASE?
