smokers?

“Just curious. How many of you are smokers (cigarettes/cigars)? How does that affect you on the trail? Any x-smokers who have noticed a difference on the trail after quitting?”

“Have been both. Smoker, ex-smoker. I'm working on being a smoker again unfortunately. It's never affected me on the trail except for when we hiked in CO. The altitude was a killer and the smoking didn't help. And I always have pockets full of butts.”

“As an ex-smoker I can tell you it makes a huge difference in climbing hills - lung capacity.”

“I hear ya! I spent the last few months working on becoming a smoker again... I had gone 10 month being a weekend-only smoker. Now I'm back to evenings and weekends. My friend was hypnotized and hasn't had a cigarette in many months. I may be making that phone call soon...”

“wow! i never knew ANY bacpackers who smoked until i started on this site. i always assumed that smoking just wasn't very condusive to this type of activity. i guess i'm a minority now. weeeeiiird stuff.

you quit smoking every single time you put out a cigarette. the problem is that the next time you light up, you've started again.

i've always wondered why people even start smoking in the first place. i can only attribute it to a desire to be accepted by a certain group of people. it's hard to believe that someone would actually decide that they needed to take up smoking.

"hmm. i think it's about time i started smoking."




sound familiar?

it is. ”

“Mmmmmmm...I'm a recreational smoker!

However, I quit tobacco 3 years, 6 months and 3.5 days ago...successfully!”

“Ya, I'm a smoker. I don't really notice any air supply problems, even at altitude. I'm sure it would be better without, of course. I'm not getting any younger.

Hey Joy - I know what you mean about the pockets full of butts. I started using an empty film container, instead.”

“Sorry about the repeat, Rad. Didn't even occur to me to search for a smoking thread on TT.

I used to put the butts in a pocket, but then I got a disgusting yellow stain when the shorts got a bit wet. The stain never came out. Now I put my butts back in the pack w/ the unsmoked cigs.

Congrats to you Buddur.”

“you don't notice the air supply problem until after you have quit!

BTW - ex-smoker who notices a huge difference hiking and playing basketball as well.”

“I used to smoke, and got away with it for many years. But, that nasty little college habit became a late 30s problem. I quit, and yes I notice a significant difference in endurance, especially at altitude.

In defense of smokers I will admit that I do miss it sometimes. If only I could have just kept it to a few a day rather than that full on chimney scene I was doing.”

“We got a few pipe smokers in the group, if ya know what I mean.”

“I quit smoking 1-01-00 & I quit drinking 2-19-00. I SMP but not enough to compensate for the loss of my two best vices. I would have to say my hiking has improved considerably but my social life & general outlook on society & life have taken a turn for the worst. I only had two cigarettes since I quit. One that was on 1-01-01 to celebrate one year of quitting & once to save my life (a long story short I had a gun to my head so to speak).

Physically I feel much better, mentally & emotionally I don't know.”

“Never started. Guess I don't know what I'm missing. Don't care. Glad.”

“Don't smoke.
never have.
Don't like to be around smokers.

I interview and hire a number of summer interns every year. If they smoke, or even smell of smoke I do not hire them.

And I really do not care if someone else doesn't like my hiring practices.”

“I had been a smoker for about 30 years, off and on, and mostly on. THen, back in the summer of '98, I decided to point my life to the mountains, et al, and that for my summer vacation in '99, I was going to do the John Muir Trail in the Sierra's (211 miles, several passes, altitudes to 14,495).

I'd been smoking, at times, 2 packs a day. No way was I going to be able to do this hike as a smoker.

So, come November of that year ('98), I quit. My birthday gift to myself. I wanted to do that hike, and nothing - NOTHING - was going to prevent me from doing it as a non-smoker. Doing that hike was more important to me than the smoking was. Sad to say that, in a way, for up to that poiunt, there wasn't anything ELSE that was so important to me.

Still, it was something to motivate me. And as I surfed the net for info. of any kind (it's how I eventually came to meet Mel, online anyway, and discovered TT, among other sites). Adopting this new rigorous and strenuous activity would only succeed if I could do so with lungs which would allow me to see it from on high.

That JMT hike came 9 months after I quit. I did fall off the wagon on that trek, though... My hiking companion, Jimmy - whom I also connected with on the REI BBS - pulled out cigars on our last night in camp, at elevation. Four of us sat there in the dark, under the moonlight, and the top of the pass, and we smoked them stogies 'til they were nubs.

With that exception, it's been 2 years, 7 months, 3 weeks. It ain't over yet.”

“Only smoke occasionally and it's always pure and natural, from god's green earth. Nothing like what you find in a cigarette pack.”

“I hike so fast that my boots sometimes smoke. I have to dip them in a creek now & then so I don't start forest fires.”

“I smoke a pack a day. I have for the past 10 years on and off, mostly on. I didn't start to fit in. I started cause I was drunk and bummed one and liked it. I quit for 17 weeks shortly after (basic training). I then was on a 740 mile drive (to be done in one day) and wanted a smoke to pass the time. Oddly I actually debated buying em cause I knew I would be a smoker from that point on. I still run 3 miles 4 days a week. I can hike like crazy and not be winded. I guess I got good lungs and youth goin' for me. I quit a few times a year but huntin and hiking without smokes just doesnt seem right.

There was a line in " The Fisher King" along these lines... there are two types of people in this world, smokers and non-smokers. Its up to you to decide which you are .”

“I quit 10 years ago april 1st, but smoked for a year somewhere in the middle. It made a HUGE difference, in my health; my hiking, my self image, my performance sexually, just about any and every aspect of my life.
No kidding, it was the hardest, but the best decision I ever made. You gotta try it!!!”

“Zazel”

“I smoked in my late teens/early 20's and it is VERY hard to quit. I'm glad I quit. Good luck to anyone looking to stop smoking.”

“How did you all quit? Your way might help others who are trying. As for me, I just went cold turkey. It didn't seem so hard to me, but my wife says I was a d!ck.”

“Cold turkey!

After seeing my Dad laying asleep in a hospital bed hooked up to all these tubes, bells and whistles...a person who ate right, hardly drank, didn't smoke, exercised and lived a reverand life. And there I was...a person living like I was invincible. Put me in my place fast.

At the time I figured it was the FIRST thing I needed to do to improve my health. I haven't had a cigarette since!”

“Mmmmm...forgot to mention...my Dad had a heart attack the day before New Years Eve 1998.”

“I quit years ago when I felt guilty smoking around my kids, I say the best way to quit is to mess with your habit until your body and brain can't decide if it's addicted or not. What I mean is like switch brands and wait an extra 20 mins after you get up or after you eat to smoke, smoke only a drag or two then put it out. Do any thing to throw your smoking pattern off maybe skip a day stuff like that then just stop cold ,if you mess up smoke a day and go cold again. This is war and all is fair...patches, pills whatever works. Do it all until your FREE!”

“I quit cold turkey. I avoided things that made me want to smoke like Cokes. I also chewed toothpicks and gum. I hate gum though. After about 2 weeks you got it whoped. The cravings still show up once in a while but it's easier to get over. If you do quit, NEVER DO IT AGAIN!!!”

“I'm like Gordon. Only difference is that the smoker's file get stuck at the bottom of the pile. When the company is really in need of that person...maybe they finally get hired.”

“The patches worked for me a little, but they wouldn't do it by themselfs.

Wolfsister's ideas are real good too. I switched brands and even rolled my own (Tops) for a while.

I found Tootsie Pops (suckers) to help a lot. Substituted for the oral thing and something to do with the hands as well.”

“When I quit, it was the night before my birthday. It was exactly 9 months before I was to leave for my first JMT hike. I stopped at the local grocery, picked up a month's worth of Nicoderm (21, 14, and 7 mg patches).

The patches took the edge off, but what got me through each day was the motivation that doing and completing the JMT hike provided. I REALLY wanted to do this hike, and I knew the only way I'd be able to complete each day, the ups and downs, the altitude and the packweight was if I had better lungs than I had the day before I quit.

If you're intent on quitting, it may take several attempts - it did for me, and for most everyone I know who's stopped. It helped ME to have an "either-or" goal, and it worked.”

“Smoking has a higher fall back rate than heroin. The problem is availability. If you had to see a cigarette dealer, and risked jail time to smoke, I bet it would be easier to quit. I started while I was in the Army- age 21. I am now 33 and I've tried to quit a few times with no success. I would like to quit but you know how damn hard it is, if you don't smoke you don't know. I don't smoke indoors or in the car, and I try to respect other people i.e. restaurant, park, trail. If anyone has a good method to quit I would like to hear it. And also thanks for the venue to discuss it.”

“I used to be a 2 pack a day guy myself. Started when I was 14. I quit for good, shortly after I took up backpacking. One day I had just topped out a long steep climb and while huffing and puffing, I found myself lighting up at the same time ....I looked at the smoke and said to myself, this is nuts. I quit cold turkey shortly after.

I received an e-mail the other day that said

Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.”

“I quit smoking 15 years ago!! Geeze.. I didn't realize it had been that long!! My daughter had been carrying on about how her mother was going to die from smoking... She was bringing home pictures of lungs from smokers.. ick... I finally decided that I was tired of not being able to smoke when I wanted, didn't want to go outside to smoke, etc. So, I decided that I could quit if I wanted to and not quit also. (I'm a little stubborn.. If someone tells me I can't do something... well.. you get it..) I gave myself permission to smoke anytime I wanted.. I'm an adult, right?? My choice... My only rules were 1) No bumming a cigarette from anyone.. 2) No "puffing" off someone's cigarette (I always thought that was in the category of if you don't take a whole piece of cake and you stand at the same time, you really didn't have any, right?) 3) Could not go to 7-11 and buy just one (remember when they had them sitting in a cup on the counter?? Am I aging myself here again??) 4)If I wanted a cigarette bad enough, I had to admit that I had given in and had to buy a whole pack (see rules 1,2,3 above). Sure... I missed them (I still miss them at times!), but #4 kept this stubborn lady from smoking again!! Hope some of this helps!”

“My ear,nose and throat surgeon told me that if people quit smoking he would be out of business. I'm not a smoker and never was, but I got had throat cancer in 1999 and had a most of my throat removed and 26 lymph nodes removed from my neck because the cancer spread there too. I also had 31 radiation treatments from my jaw to my collarbones.
If smokers could see how devastating throat cancer can be maybe some of them would quit. The constant pain, everlasting side effects and the stress of relapse just aren't worth it. When I sit in the waiting room in my doctor's office most of the people there are ex-smokers and they have no voice because their voicebox had to be removed. They're lucky enough to still be alive, but at what cost? I urge anyone that smokes to quit now. The risk of throat cancer isn't worth it.”

“If I got old and died and never saw another thread about smokers or dogs on the trail or guns on the trail or bears in the woods I would be a happy woman.”

“Once a smoker...always a smoker. Quitting is just how long you can go between smokes!”

“I smoked cigs for about 15 years then quit cold turkey for 3 years and then this cigar shop moved in next to my office. I tried me a 10 dollar cigar and thought it was great so I decided that I would get me one every time I enlisted someone into the Army. I had the best 2 months of my career so now I ma hooked again and can't afford the 10 dollar cigars so now I'm a HavaTampa kinda guy.As for lung capacity I've never had a problem my legs give out way before my oxygen does.I also sing and I have to say that whislt I was a non-smoker it made a heck of a difference!”

“Never smoked cigarettes, but smoked a pipe (regular tobacco only!) between ages 20-30. It was fairly easy to quit pipe smoking compared to cigarettes. It is a physical addition, not chemical.

My parents both quit smoking in their late 60's in the same week. They had been smoking since they were teenagers. If they could do it, anyone can. In my mother's case, the damage was already very extensive but it probably prolonged her life a year or two. My dad is 73 and doing great.

Too many of my other loved ones smoke, however. The one thing that is woefully missing from the posts on this thread by smokers is any acknowledgement of how their smoking affects others that love them. I am not talking about second hand smoke. I am talking about the fear of future health problems and other negative (social) effects. One of the best gifts you could give yourself and your loved ones is to quit smoking.

BTW. If invested, the cost of smoking 1 or more packs of cigarettes a day would generate a retirement amount equivalent to many retirement plans...or at least pay for a great hobby! $1000/year will buy a lot of backpacking equipment!”

“Wow Rich B! Thanks for telling your cancer story. I had my throat slit 'cause of cancer too. I gather you are pretty active now, in remission and just watching out for any recurrence?

I'm slowing learning that there are a number of us here who have had cancer. And, as MOM's thread shows there are many more whose lives have been touched by it.

There is a real continuum as fas as what it does to people. I got pretty sick before mine was diagnosed, but it seems to have been only begining to spread and I didn't have any chem or radiation because those treatments seem to have no effect on the kind of cancer I had. Other people don't get sick at all.

Anyway, I'm new to this cancer thing. I only found out about the cancer 6 weeks ago, having had the operation 2 weeks before then. For me, at least, its good to see a post on someone elses experience.”

“PedXing, I'm glad you were able to discover your cancer before it had a chance to spread. A lot of people aren't so lucky. By the time I felt anything strange it had aready spread to 6 lymph nodes in my neck and that's why I had to have radiation and need close follow up every two months. My doctor's speculate that I got throat cancer from the immu nosuppresant drugs I was on when I had a bone marrow transplant in 1998 for a rare form of leukemia. So far that's in remission too. I also had squamous cell skin cancer on my wrist last year and had Moh's surgery to fix that problem.
I'm doing pretty good in the midst of this mess, but the reality is that I'm on thin ice and at high risk. I have a lot of treatment related problems, but somehow manage to get out and backpack and do other things with a few changes in techinque. Did you have a larygectomy ? I had a partial so luckily I still have my voice. My doctor in Philadelphia pioneered partial larygectomy to preserve voice function.”

“Mr.B can hike like a mofo.

Mr.Walkingdude...you got competition!”

“RichB & PedXing - Your stories here are inspiring, to say the least. More to the point, they serve as testament to the benefits not only of quitting smoking, but recognizing other, potentially cancer-causing behaviors, etc.

It might interest you to know, too, that part of my work puts me in front of some who cannot benefit by it. I'm a financial consultant (ChFC) who often must recommend certain types of insurance to clients whose exposure would be devastating without it. Despite the need, however, certain health issues make it EXTREMELY costly to solve these problems. In some cases, cost is moot - they simply cannot get what they need - or (by THAT time) want.

It's a significant issue in my case, too, and for someone "in the business", I should have known better long ago. Still, I quit, and can only pray that I did so before it became too late. I hop[e, too, it'll be a long time before I find out...

Good luck to you both.”

“When I was about 11, my girlfriend's mom smoked a lot. For some reason we were intrigued. She seemed to enjoy it so much. We tried it, but did not see what was so good about it.

Thank you everyone here for telling your stories. I will share them with my smoking husband. He obviously wasn't moved by seeing commercials with that women smoking through her throat. The problem is, smokers see real old people smoke, and think well, maybe I'll can grow old smoking too. Well, maybe that old guy looks old and wrinkly because he smokes. Smoking does help your skin to wrinkle.

I know I've told this story before, but here goes. In the obituaries, there was a guy that could not stop smoking. His obituary read, "he finally stopped smoking".

To pot smokers, I've always heard that smoking a joint is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes.”

“Having a good set of lungs deffinatly helps when on them up hills!”

“I smoke like a freakin' chimney.

But, you know what? I'm gonna leave them at the trailhead on my hike with TFR. That outta get innerstin'...”

“Obi and Rich thanks for your posts.

Rich: I am hoping that it was caught before it spread. They found signs of vascular invasion, which means it could have spread throughgh the blood stream. Like lots of folks I'm on the long term watch with regular blood levels, ultra sounds, x-rays and physical exams.

They went near, but didn't have to remove, my larynx and the vocal nerve. I notice only small changes in my voice (its harsher and has lost some "color") and I can't shout as loud, or make squeaky sounds. I am lucky in that respect. If it doesn't return, I will feel that I got off quite easy. In general, there is about a 50% recurrence rate for parathyroid cancer.. but it is very rare and the stats aren't that reliable. So, I have some idea of what being on thin ice is like but still have to imagine what its like for you knowing that you have gone several rounds with cancer already.

Anyway good for you for getting out into the mountains. The only reasonable choice is to keep on living, but it takes courage to embrace it. I gotta respect you for that. Seeing your posts here will mean more to me because of it.

Obi: as far as caustive factors, the only obvious possibility is genetic. My aunt had a tumor of the same gland (parathyroid), but hers was benign (maybe it hadn't become cancerous yet) and my mother had thyroid cancer at 29 which might have actually started with the parathyroid (where mine was).”

“Well I smoke and have tried to quit. But something always gives me the excuse to start back work etc.etc.
But I think I am giving it a shot again.
We are hiking in CA this summer and I tend not to smoke around other people I am backpacking with. Most people who don't smoke make you feel like a outcast.......
Smoking is a problem for people who do it. The problem with me is I love it. I smoke about a pack a day then try to myself think thats ok I work out alot to stay in shape and still can do great on the uphills just ask Joyce....
Well maybe I will win the battle this year. The problem will be I won't eat or drink for then I will have to smoke. by drink I mean anything.......like tea, water etc.....
Well wish me luck.
It is great for all of you have quit and stayed there.
Another good idea would be to take the money you spend on smokes and put in a jar in no time at all you can buy a new piece of great gear....

Peace
Barbara”

“Ped & Rich - I hope all is well with the both of you, and you live long healty lives.

I smoke, quite a bit. I just got off the trail yesterday, and smoked during the whole hike, even those nasty uphills. I get winded, when I hike, play hoops, and hit triples. Smoking was one of the largest contributors to the breakup of my last relationship. I've been hypmotized, sucked on some plastic pipe, used the patch, the pill and the gum.

The fact is this, if you really want to quit, ya just have to suck it up, quit being a panzie, and quit, no matter how hard it is. That day is coming for me soon (not a procrastinantion), I've just about had it with the things, especially when they are $3.50 per pack now.

Smoking sucks.”

“Lot's of smokers in here and most appear to have a desire to quit. Having reformed myself from 2 packs a day, I feel qualified to say that I understand how difficult it is too stop. At the risk of sounding like a hopeless 12 stepper or Stuart Smally I'll pass along two thoughts: 1) realize that it is really diffcult to quit and you are not weak, unmotivated, or lazy for not doing so (don't get down on yourself!), and recognize that one reason (for me at least) that you smoke is that smoking really is great! But, you have to resolve yourself to all the other negatives of smoking and make your decision to quit and, for me at least, continually remind yourself of why you quit. I hate to say it, but I miss those after meal or high stress smokes, etc., but I don't miss the other 35 I lit up throughout the day.

If you decide to go for it I'll be pullin for you, and if not, I won't be one of those people to hold it against you.

Now I'm off to 8000 feet to enjoy my still clearing lungs.”

“PedXing, Since your surgery was so recent maybe your voice will get better as things heal up.
My voice is not what exactly like it was because they removed everything above my vocal cords. My tumor was the size of a nickel on the left side of my epiglottis. The epiglottis is the small flap of cartilage that covers the airway when you swallow. I also can only talk for a certain amount of time before I get hoarse or a sore throat. After my surgery I couldn't talk at all and it came back slowly. I also couldn't eat and had a feeding tube for 7 weeks. I still have some trouble eating, but at least the feeding tube is gone. It seems to take a long time for your voice to heal so you may be surprised as it heals. Hopefully, it didn't spread anywhere and it's a good sign that you didn't have any lymph node involvement. If your doctor didn't suggest radiation then I would think that he felt it did not spread. MRI's or CT scans usually can detect secondary tumors. I get an MRI every 6 months.
Your right about finding out information about these types of tumors. Answers do seem to be difficult to come by.
Your right also as far as genetic factors that cause cancer, I know how I got bone marrow failure and why I'm getting additional cancers. The type of leukemia I had was so rare in younger people my doctor was determined to find out how I got it. Through genetic testing he discovered I have an inherited genetic disorder called Fanconi Anemia. It causes ultimate bone marrow failure and a host of other cancers usually of the head and neck. Both parents have to carry a defective gene to pass on the disease. It's very rare and only 1500 people in the US are afflicted with it. Bone marrow failure usually strikes by age 16 and most children do not reach adulthood. Those that do, get cancer later on. There's only a few adults still alive in the US with this disease and I'm lucky enough to be one of oldest. There's no cure so I'm always going to be at high risk for cancer. Maybe someday through gene therapy there will be a cure. I'm just trying to survive long enough to see it. It's still possible I got the throat cancer from the medication I was on, but we'll never know for sure.”

“Rich: Wow again. I was just reading an article about two kids with Fanconi Anemia (in the New York Times magazine or the Boston Globe Magazine). Maybe there are other people like you who did much better than usual and who were never diagnosed??

My doctor didn't suggest radiation or chemo because neither works with my kind of cancer, but based on the reading I've done and what the doctor tells me I have a better than 50% chance of never seeing it again. I'm hoping that my voice will recover. I had trouble swallowing and thats almost gone. Most people don't notice that my voice has changed much, its subtle. I have been lucky. My scar is fading and I'm feeling better than I have in years. Life is good right now.

If your plans ever come up to New England lemme know. Maybe we can put in a hike together, or some such thing. If you are as strong a hiker as Buddur says, you may have to be a little patient with me.”