# Life after a heart attack caused by smoking!



## Frenchieboy (Apr 11, 2016)

I was going to put this on the thread in the "General Off Topic" about "vaping" but decided that I didn't want to "hijack the thread"! If any of the site moderators feel this thread is inappropriate then please feel free to delete it and accept my apologies!

Now before I start this post/thread I want to make it clear that it is not my intention to lecture anyone, nor is it asking for any sort of self pity or sympathy - I'm good now and don't have any complaints about life! What I went through and what I put my wife through was all of my own doing and I have no-one to blame but myself - No-one ever forced me to smoke, I chose to start smoking with a complete free will - But I nearly paid the ultimate price for it!

No doubt just like many of you I used to smoke, maybe much heavier that some of you, in fact far too many than was good for me! I used to roll my own and I was getting through over 50 a day, plus I also used to really enjoy smoking a pipe! I knew that this was not good for me but contrary to what some might say giving up smoking is not as easy as it sounds! I know, I tried and I failed many times. I would quit for a while but then start again. To me it was quite simply a lack of will power, something that I am not very blessed with. Eventually I did manage to quit for good with help from my doctor and a "Quit Smoking Program" and started using an E-Cig as a bit of a prop - I was (And still am) delighted with myself for what I see as a real achievement!

*However by the time I quit the damage had already been done!* 

It happened two years ago during a Crown Green Bowls Competition! I played my game but I was not playing or feeling too good. Even my opponent (Who I had played and beaten a few times before) noticed that I was not playing up to my usual standard and asked what was wrong and if I wanted to stop the game. I answered "Nothing really, I'm just not feeling too good but I'll be fine, let's finish the game"! I wasn't getting any real or constant pain that I recognised as warning signs, just the occasional "thump" sort of feeling in my chest which was starting to feel "a little tight" and I was feeling a little weak and occasionally a bit dizzy. The game ended (I got well and truly beaten) but when I bent down to pick my bowls up to leave the green I came over very dizzy and keeled over. My opponent realised that something was seriously wrong and called for others to help me off the green. The last thing I remember was being laid down on a bench while someone called for an ambulance. I lost conciousness while being cradled in my wife's arms - I truly and honestly thought I was about to breath my last!

That was two years ago. Things are great now, but I look at and see life in a slightly different way!

I have had to have "stents" fitted around my heart (From what the surgeon told me it was touch and go and was bordering on a full heart by-pass operation)

The years of smoking had blocked the arteries around my heart but now I with the stents fitted feel pretty good. There are some things that I don't do now (Or maybe not as often) which I used to do before (Don't ask, Let's not get personal :naughty: ) but in everything I do now I tend to pace myself more carefully. I still get out and hunt regularly with my shotguns and rifles (Maybe not covering quite as much ground as I used to) and I still regularly attend Clay Pigeon Shoots and Target Shooting Competitions, I still play in two Crown Green Bowling Teams, I still go for plenty of longish walks in the countryside with my camera (I have a passion for wildlife photography) and now I go out most days for some target practice in the woods with my catapults!

Life is good, I may be nearly 65 (Just 4 days to go - If you want to send a present I'll PM you the address :ups: :ups: - Only joking ) but I am still pretty active and have a full and active life! However I the one thing that I now realise that you never know what life might have in store for you so you need to make the most of every day that is given to you and enjoy it to it's fullest, and more importantly you need to try to take care of your body, after all it's the only one you will ever have!

I haven't smoked for well over two years now but I do "Vape" and my doctor is comfortable with that.

For those of you that do smoke I'm not going to say "Quit Smoking" because I know it's simply not that easy, and I certainly not in a position to and I know that I of all people don't have any right to lecture anyone on the dangers of smoking. All I will say is you could maybe stop for just one minute and have a think about the possible long term effects of smoking and how they might effect you and (Possibly even more importantly) those around you that love and care about you!


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## Tag (Jun 11, 2014)

Thanks for sharing your story, we all need a little dose of reality to remind us we are not invincible.


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## Frenchieboy (Apr 11, 2016)

Tag said:


> Thanks for sharing your story, we all need a little dose of reality to remind us we are not invincible.


Yes Tag, it's so true that most of us think we are invincible. Unfortunately we are not and it sometimes takes something ;like this to remind us of that!


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

I believe you emerged from the situation a better man . Certainly wiser with heightened awareness and humility . I'm glad you survived this trial with a greater appreciation to your life and that of others .


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

Good for you Frenchieboy! I also quit smoking a number of years ago.

I lost a brother an uncle a cousin and a good friend to lung cancer due to smoking.

Life is too precious! :wave:


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## StretchandEat (Nov 11, 2015)

Congratulations on life.. I quit smoking 13 months ago.. now I need to quit dipping snuff.. but the money me and my wife save by quitting cigarettes totally pays my monthly car note... happy birthday by the way


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## Oahu1 (Apr 28, 2015)

Thanks for sharing. I have never been a smoker but have lost loved family members and friends to smoking. Every single one of them knew they should quit but it is a strong hook & unless you have had a scare such as yours & sometimes even though you do, many don't quit. I know for myself, I never thought of my mortality until people my age started dying around me. All of us go, I hope mine is as far down the road of life as possible.


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## Vetryan15 (Feb 7, 2013)

I quit smoking 2years ago. on a VAPORIZER since, alot cheaper. expecalliy since I just started doing DIY juice. comes out to less then $1 a bottle of juice. I got through a lot of it 2.


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## Frenchieboy (Apr 11, 2016)

It's good to hear that some of you are "vaping" rather than smoking! I thought that using an e-cig was me just talking the easy way out.

I'm not sure that I have come out a better man (Even though I do hope so) buy as "trefrok" says I do have a much fuller appreciation of life!

Edit: And it's official - Today I am a retired grumpy old man! :violin:


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## Vetryan15 (Feb 7, 2013)

when I quit, i was smoking 2packs minimum. 3 on a bad day. I am in NJ, it was expensive. I moved to Pa, it was alot cheaper. then I moved to Wa state for 3 months for work. it was $11 a package. when I got back to NJ. my best friend and I started vaping around the same time. so have a better support system. it worked. he started vaping about 2werks before Me. only thing I don't get are the kids, and people who don't smoke, start vaping cuz they think it's cool. I never got into the hardcore vaping culture. I used it as a quit smoking. I don't my own maitaniace, and make my own juice 
Ryan


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## WindLvr (Jul 16, 2014)

I quit smoking by starting vaping almost 6 years ago. I couldn't breathe, and I thought I was having a serious asthma attack. I went to the ER, and the doctor told me that if I ever smoked a cigarette again that I would most likely suffocate and die. Well I left the hospital, lit up a cigarette, and went home to think about what the doctor had told me. Needless to say I landed back in the ER 4 days later. Right then and there I decided I had to find a way to quit smoking. Luckily I found vaping or vaping found me. Either way you see it, it was an absolute life changer for me. My asthma has gone away, my lung x rays are completely clear, and other than a severely messed up back I have gotten a lot healthier! I started mixing my own juice about 4 years ago, and I haven't bought any juice from a retail outlet in about 2 and half years. I have a hard time buying juice for the prices they charge when I know how much it costs to make a quality juice. I make my own juice for about 3 and half cents per ml. I go through a lot of juice, and so does my wife. I have about 10 different recipes I make that are all delicious, and it keeps me from getting burned out on any particular flavor. It has saved me a whole lot of money not buying cigarettes which is a good thing since I have some very expensive hobbies!!!


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