[barbra]

#1060325

Actually, I should have addressed this to Shirley, who can take ALL the credit.

I have quit smoking! At the end of September 2013 I gave away an almost full carton of cigarettes and all my pretty colored little lighters. I had been smoking since I was 15 and I’m now 70. My husband smoked as well. We enjoyed it! We knew it was bad, realized the risks, took the chance with no ill effects. Nothing scared me: not heart disease, stroke, lung cancer or any of the other ailments the doctors were tirelessly trotting out. And we tried to quit, after all it was easy – we’d done it 1000 times.

In April of 2013 I was diagnosed with Graves’ and decided on RAI, which so far has worked out OK.

Then I met Shirley, who had not only Graves’ but TED. I remembered when she wrote that she’s had several operations on her eyes, has to tape her lids shut so she can sleep at night and has to have eyelids plucked because the lashes are growing the wrong way and scratch the eyeball, among other things.

I learned that smoking increases the risk of TED in some people who went the RAI route. I read articles and viewed pictures and that scared the crap out of me! Honestly and seriously, I have not smoked even once since the end of September. Have no desire or intention to do so. Even having gained weight and being fat as a tick is not going to change my mind. I’m not saying that I feel terrific now, who with Graves’ does, but my clothes and I smell better, and maybe, just maybe, I have increased the odds of not getting TED by a little bit.

I’m saying thank you to Shirley for being open and honest about the way she has to deal with TED and therefore giving me a step up.
Take good care, Shirley.

Hugs.
Barbra.

[snelsen]

#1181951

Barbra! WOW! I am so very happy for you. And very, very, super proud of you and of your husband. Thank you so much for your kind and appreciative words. You get all the credit!!! However, YOU are the one who did the hard work. As you mentioned, there is a loose causal relationship between being a smoker and ending up with TED. If my hellish, horrible, life-changing experience with TED, plus all the surgeries, botched and otherwise, played into the equation of your decision to stop smoking, it makes it more worthwhile to me to have shared my experiences. (and in a weird way, it contributes to having had TED just a little bit less awful, because it served a useful purpose for you!)

But back to the main topic, you stopping smoking, (and your husband) is a major and positive turning point in your life. I know it is not easy. NOt at all. It’s a day to day thing, and there are more rewards for you each day as time passes. Pretty soon, the snow (we don’t DO snow in Seattle) will be gone, and you can begin having nice walks, which you will not enjoy doing, and you will smell spring smells that will remind you of your childhood! It will be wonderful.
I’m sure you have decreased the chance of getting TED. And, of course, of getting lots of other stuff, as you already know. The risk/benefit ratio of being a non-smoker weighs in heavily on the benefit side. Yah!

When I did try smoking for just a few months, one memory that stays with me, even today, is the tobacco smell of people and their clothes, and of a smoker in general. The contrast is shocking, and we notice it even more as a non-smoker.

If the foundation decides to have a longer conference in the future, or even if they stay with the one day conferences, it it on the East coast, I’ll try to justify attending, and we can meet. I did go to a couple conferences on the west coast, and it is MARVELOUS to meet people who have posted on the forum, plus meeting Kimberly, too!

What a marvelous and wonderful end of 2013 and beginning of 2014.

Thank you again!
Shirley

[Kimberly]

#1181952

Barbra – Congratulations! This is a huge accomplishment, not just in terms of reducing the risk of TED, but for so many other health considerations as well. Hope that you get to do something nice for yourself to celebrate!

[barbra]

#1181954

Thanks Shirley and Kimberly,

I would have mentioned the not smoking thing sooner but I wanted to make sure that it was really working. I finally took down the sign on my fridge, which read: NOT TODAY! Maybe I should have left it there to warn me away from all that yummy food. Oh well, one thing at a time.

Take the credit, Shirley, it was the graphic description of your journey with TED that must have shaken something loose in my brain. You have something that I DO NOT WANT, sorry, Dear.

And I would have replied to your nice posts some days ago, but I haven’t felt like doing much of anything. It’s not the Graves’, for a change, it’s the depressing weather. It seems we DO snow here in the greater Washington DC area, Shirley, lots of it, at least this winter, and extreme cold. I hate it when I look outside and my car is just a ball of ice.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Hugs.
Barbra.

[npatterson]

#1181953

Barbra,

Thank you for sharing your story. These are the posts that all facilitators live for! It is positive, honest and worth sharing. Of course, St. Shirley is a wonderful influence.

Take care,

Nancy

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