cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Share your quitting journey

The next chapter of healing

SaraCorinne
Member
6 13 159

Tomorrow begins my outpatient PT.  For those of you that don't know, I had a total knee replacement on both knees at the same time....  I did 4 weeks PT at home and made great physical progress.  My emotional progress is still up and down although I'm noticing more up than down days lately.  I'm still using a walker to get around.  I did take 3 unaided steps to bed last night.  Scary exciting!  I am a very impatient person by nature, always have been.  I went into this surgery with unrealistic expectations, even though the doctor told me how long the recovery time would be.  In my mind, I was going to recoup fast and be able to enjoy the rest of my leave from work.  Well....that didn't happen.  You just can't rush some things in life.  Much like quitting smoking.  There are steps/stages you must go through to accomplish your goal.  You have to go through the bad stuff to get to the good stuff, there's just no way around it.....at least I never found a shortcut.  With every crave you get through, you become stronger!  You have to be dedicated to your quit, WILLING to go through whatever it takes to keep it!  Remember the reasons you quit.  Don't forget how you felt when you made the decision to quit.  I could hardly breath, I wheezed so loud I woke myself up, I coughed so long in the morning trying to get the mucus out of my throat just so I could breath, only to light up and cough some more.  I've had days where I think, to hell with it, I'm just going to smoke, who cares but you know what?  I CARE!  At 85 days of FREEDOM, I feel the effects of quitting!  I can breathe easier, coughing seems foreign to me, my wheeze is all but gone, I don't get out of breath, my sense of smell and taste have returned and let's not forget the PRIDE I feel for myself!  Like healing from my surgery, quitting takes work, HARD WORK!  My days have been stacking up fast because I've been more focused on re-learning how to walk.  Re-learning how to live a life w/o smoking isn't easy but it's also not impossible.  It all boils down to:  HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?  YOU MUST BE WILLING!  COMMIT TO YOUR QUIT LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT......BECAUSE IT DOES!  GOD bless my husband, Gary, for taking such good care of me and putting up with my abuse.  GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU EXER'S TOO, without YOU I wouldn't have made it!

Thanks for listening,

SaraCorinne 

13 Comments
About the Author
I was born and raised in Michigan, moved to Indiana in my late 20's. I work in grocery retail as a cashier for the last 28 years. Married with 4 kids and 8 grandkids. I'm here for encouragement and advice.