Karloff Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 First week of Sept., friend of mine dropped dead of a heart attack at 43. undetected heart condition. 2nd week of Sept., close friend of mine since 1975 passed away from lung cancer. 3rd week, buddy of mine for over 20 years called to say the throat /oral cancer he had beaten 5 years earlier had come back with a vengence. last week they had to removed his tongue, most of his left jaw, lymph nodes, and alot of throat tissue. Don't hesitate to tell your friends how much you care, and what they mean to you. and if you use tobacco, please stop. I regret every damn Marlboro I ever lit . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Oh man! That is brutal. Sorry to hear all that Karloff. I quit that crap a few years ago. Wish I never started. Keep on going Bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 Oh man! That is brutal. Sorry to hear all that Karloff. I quit that crap a few years ago. Wish I never started. Keep on going Bro my one friend going through the surgery, he amazes me with his optimism. very positive mental attitude. all 3 , just the best guys you could ever know and best friends a guy could ask for. and they get dealt that hand. and you see complete a$$holes walking through rain drops their whole lives. sometimes I don't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 All my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your friends, mate. I guess I am blessed; My own dad was such a heavy (and messy) smoker, and us boys had the job of keeping his ash trays emptied, the butts picked up out of the yard, and his filthy car vacuumed-out, it kind of turned me off from ever smoking when I got older. His bad example literally made me feel ill about smoking, and I never took it up. I do hope and pray that all goes well with you and your surviving buddy, and that he survives the aftermath of the surgeries. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Sorry to hear about your friends. Hope October is better for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Sorry to hear about all that… It's really tough to lose close friends. My thought and prays go out to you and your friends and families... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 Thnx guys. I'm just hoping my friend comes through the surgery ok. I'm hoping he can beat it again. He's being strong and very positive. They will be giving him a prosthetic tongue. Knowing what he is going through makes my problems seem ridiculous. Puts things in perspective. I just want him make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10K-DB Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Prayers+ best wishes to you and yours in your time of need. I have a brother-in-law that is at U-M med center this week having major surgery on a hip replacement and a rod of some type in his leg,,yes your right care for the ones you love while you can,there really what its all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 That's terrible Karloff. Can't even imagine the pain going through that. My dad was a big smoker too and I never did. But I have had friends and relatives die due to smoking and watching them go was not pleasant at all. Hope he gets through it ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino_j Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Sorry for the tough times, Karloff. It seems like sometimes these things go in spells, and unfortunately the older I get the more frequent the spells come. Agree that you should always tell people how much you care, and on the flip side (sort of), don't put off making amends with folks if there are bad or hard feelings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxson50 Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 The older we get the regularly frequent the reapers visits come. You never get used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8_4thesh0w Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Really sorry to hear this. It's bad enough when you lose a good friend, let alone, two and another facing life altering circumstances. Some times it's those guys who take it as it comes and do the best with what they have left that have the most to teach us about living. I still haven't quit. I'm smoking a roll your own pouch every week or ten days. I need to go all the way. The best friend I ever had dropped dead from a heart attack on my oldest boy's 22nd birthday four years ago. Thoughts and prayers for you and them and their families and especially your bud with his surgery. Don't think about the ones who are never affected. Just keep those other guys alive in your heart. I've found that works best for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 My condolences, Karloff. Tobacco is a really tough drug to quit. I can't say I've quite managed that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 nasty stuff tobacco. I quit twice, but have been clean for about 7 or 8 years. Thanks for posting this Karloff. It helps to maintain that resolve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Im sorry tinhear this. Tough times indeed. I can't imagine how hard it is to lose 2 friends so close together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Woa.. Tough few weeks Doug. It does seem that bad news comes in groupings of three sometimes. May there be no more coming your way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Yes - sorry to hear about all this. Tough indeed.....best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Sorry to hear this mate and to some extent I know what's ahead as I have mate that was a smoker and had cancer in his throat and mouth. He had all the treatment and beat it fortunately and when I saw him the weekend before last he looked well. Amazingly his wife was still smoking! Mum died a few moths ago of oesophageal cancer and whilst not a smoker it didn't make it any easier watching her choke to death. I have never smoked as at age of 14 I took up spearfishing and fanatically practised holding my breath, so anything that risked that was out of the question. I hate being around smokers to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Wow, I am sorry that is a very tough month. Have you and theirs in my prayers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I think all of you know about my first wife. Lung cancer at 45. Less than 4 months from the first chest pain to the crematorium. I've been tobacco and nicotine free for 2 years, 2 months and 20 days. I used the patch for two days and then peeled them off and went cold turkey. The reason I'm so specific about the amount of time I've gone is that I believe I've beaten the previous record of quitting, from Feb 2007 to April 2009. This time it's different because my current wife quit in January 2013 and there's never been any smoking in the new house. I transferred to another office 55 miles away, and the commute sucks, BUT nobody in that building smokes. At all. And my co-workers (all female BTW) have commended me for not smoking. I can't stand the smell of it whatsoever. I have gone so far as to put my Telecaster in the shower to try and rid it of the funk. I can smell someone smoking several hundred feet away and I am a complete Richard about it. Sorry to those who still smoke. Maybe it's some kind of defense mechanism I have, and so be it. I haven't touched alcohol since December of 2003 and I feel the same way about it as I do cigarettes. I stated many times that if I had symptoms of bad health from smoking I may have quit sooner, but nothing. No cough, so shortness of breath...just the desire to smoke. For about the past 9 months I have had breathing problems if I go outside in sub freezing temperatures or if I exert myself outside at any time of the year. For 4 months or so I have used an Albuterol inhaler. I thought it might have been adult onset asthma but the Doctor called it bronchial hyperresponsiveness. I keep my puffer in my pocket all the time. It's scary to not be able to get enough air in your lungs. Which makes me panic. Which makes me breathe harder. And struggle all the more. One good hit off the puffer and it's like when you remove a pot of boiling water from the stove. It calms immediately. I'm supposed to use it a couple times a day but I only use it if I need it. Sometimes I can go almost a week without it. I suppose bronchial hyperresponsiveness could be considered a form of COPD but I'm having a bit of a denial thing about that. I don't like the title. I am thankful every minute of every day for quitting. I'm only 56 and I don't even have grandchildren yet. I want to live a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino_j Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I think all of you know about my first wife. Lung cancer at 45. Less than 4 months from the first chest pain to the crematorium. I've been tobacco and nicotine free for 2 years, 2 months and 20 days. I used the patch for two days and then peeled them off and went cold turkey. The reason I'm so specific about the amount of time I've gone is that I believe I've beaten the previous record of quitting, from Feb 2007 to April 2009. This time it's different because my current wife quit in January 2013 and there's never been any smoking in the new house. I transferred to another office 55 miles away, and the commute sucks, BUT nobody in that building smokes. At all. And my co-workers (all female BTW) have commended me for not smoking. I can't stand the smell of it whatsoever. I have gone so far as to put my Telecaster in the shower to try and rid it of the funk. I can smell someone smoking several hundred feet away and I am a complete Richard about it. Sorry to those who still smoke. Maybe it's some kind of defense mechanism I have, and so be it. I haven't touched alcohol since December of 2003 and I feel the same way about it as I do cigarettes. I stated many times that if I had symptoms of bad health from smoking I may have quit sooner, but nothing. No cough, so shortness of breath...just the desire to smoke. For about the past 9 months I have had breathing problems if I go outside in sub freezing temperatures or if I exert myself outside at any time of the year. For 4 months or so I have used an Albuterol inhaler. I thought it might have been adult onset asthma but the Doctor called it bronchial hyperresponsiveness. I keep my puffer in my pocket all the time. It's scary to not be able to get enough air in your lungs. Which makes me panic. Which makes me breathe harder. And struggle all the more. One good hit off the puffer and it's like when you remove a pot of boiling water from the stove. It calms immediately. I'm supposed to use it a couple times a day but I only use it if I need it. Sometimes I can go almost a week without it. I suppose bronchial hyperresponsiveness could be considered a form of COPD but I'm having a bit of a denial thing about that. I don't like the title. I am thankful every minute of every day for quitting. I'm only 56 and I don't even have grandchildren yet. I want to live a long time. I commend you for quitting, I know quitting any addiction is not easy. I hope that as you remain tobacco and nicotine free your lungs will improve. Regarding putting a guitar in the shower...I am kind of speechless on that, to be honest with you! Not to make jokes here and get too far off topic, but if you want to get rid of cigarette odors in a guitar (or other items for that matter), try using charcoal. Just get the old fashioned briquettes that you use on the grill (not the kind with lighter fluid built in), wrap 5 or 6 of those in newspaper and place in the guitar case with the guitar and shut it up for a couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Good on you for giving up Scott I'm sure in the long term you will be better for it! I'm a chronic asthmatic and it's come close to finishing me at times and I can relate to that "somebodie's sitting on my chest feeling" very well. Inhalers come in three types, relievers (salbutamol, preventers (becatide and flexitide), and a combination of both (seretide). I have been on seretide for years and seldom suffer any symptoms if I take the inhaler twice a day. If I forget then I go backwards very quickly! Preventers need to be taken as prescribed consistently to keep you well. Anyway I'm sure that you understand all that, but it's the only thing that's kept me from repeated trips to hospital in an ambulance and it's one thing I wont shortcut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Regarding putting a guitar in the shower...I am kind of speechless on that, to be honest with you! The operative word being "Telecaster". I'll try the charcoal method. I've had many suggestions offered and I have tried some. I haven't heard your charcoal method though. I'm a chronic asthmatic and it's come close to finishing me at times and I can relate to that "somebodie's sitting on my chest feeling" very well. I don't understand how it came on so quickly with me. It started as getting a 'chill' in the back of my throat when I walked to the mailbox and back in zero degree weather. Within a couple months it turned into wheezing on the couch for a half hour and not being able to speak. Soon it was outright wide eyed panic. A Physician's Assistant indulged me and prescribed Albuterol and I swear it saved my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 The operative word being "Telecaster". I'll try the charcoal method. I've had many suggestions offered and I have tried some. I haven't heard your charcoal method though. I don't understand how it came on so quickly with me. It started as getting a 'chill' in the back of my throat when I walked to the mailbox and back in zero degree weather. Within a couple months it turned into wheezing on the couch for a half hour and not being able to speak. Soon it was outright wide eyed panic. A Physician's Assistant indulged me and prescribed Albuterol and I swear it saved my life. Yes those episodes are as scary as hell! Asthma is an auto-immine disease and your body is over reacting by closing airways down in response to a perceived allergen. Mine came on over an afternoon and I was in hospital that night. A subsequent episode had me in hospital for a couple of weeks and apparently it was touch and go for a while. My daughter and sister in law came in to visit, took one look at me me in hospital and ran out crying! It took me months to get over that episode actually and from them on I have treated it with the utmost of respect. The saving grace or when my control came about was being prescribed Seretide two puffs a day though I still keep Predislone (oral steroid) tablets in two strengths as a backup. I find that knowledge helps enormously in controlling these auto-immune diseases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I know! Maybe we could dig up Sir Walter Raleigh and the bloke that bought rabbits to Australia and kill them all over again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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