After yesterday’s rant, I thought I’d share some cool online resources to help teens make the decision not to smoke, kick an existing habit and help their friends smarten up about smoking.

thetruth.com is an interesting, edgy site sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation. The site has facts, electronic games and poster downloads that teens can use to become anti-smoking activists and “infect” their friends with the “truth” about tobacco. Don’t miss the television spots.

joechemo.org starring Joe Camel–now Joe Chemo–was developed by Wesleyan University professor, Scott Plaus when his father got smoking-related cancer. Check out the fact sheets, a screensaver, ecard, quiz and quit tips.

badvertising.org invites site visitors to make their own truthful versions of real tobacco ads, download posters and screensavers. Teachers should visit the section for workshop leaders for tips on using BADvertising in the classroom.
Get the down and dirty on Joe Camel in the eye-opening FTC complaint and order against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

dontpassgas.org is not specific to teens, but the interactive features, television spots and irreverent approach to protecting people from second-hand smoke should appeal to everyone. By the way, the gas not to be passed are the gasses released by smoking tobacco–just in case you were concerned.

fightwithfact.com is produced, in large part by Wisconsin teens to help their peers understand the many ways the tobacco industry targets teens–and to fight back.

These are marvelous and useful sites. There’s another I’d like to share with you–after I find it! I believe it’s out of the UK or Canada.

Some great work is being done to help educate and protect teens.

Some pregnant teens smoke in a deliberate attempt to have smaller babies in the erroneous believe that a small baby leads equals an easy labor, Britain’s public health minister, Caroline Flint, told the press several months ago.

You know, if they’re old enough to get pregnant, then they ought to get their facts–and their priorities–straight. Shouldn’t someone help these kids understand the full implications of smoking (and other harmful behaviors) for their infants?

I imagine it’s a tough, tough challenge to be a teenage mother and the child of a teenage mother. You’d think there would be enough strikes against them without adding the effect of smoking on the baby. Following are some of the many problems caused by smoking while pregnant.

• Yes, infants born to smoking mothers are twice as likely to be small according to their gestational age. But there’s no indication that it’s less painful to give birth to a small baby versus an average-size baby. And teens under age 17 are already more likely to have a low birth rate baby–without smoking.
• There risk of miscarriage and stillbirth is 26 percent greater for pregnant puffers.
• The incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), is increased by three to four times if the mother smoked during pregnancy.
• The baby is 60 percent more likely to have a congenital heart defect.
• The infant is twice as likely to develop asthma.

Unfortunately, the list goes on and on. I was too consumed with guilt and fear during pregnancy to continue smoking. I don’t recall quitting being easy, but the motivation was incredible.

Holiday Temptations

I wish I could report that I’ve been totally smoke-free. I was on the right track until family issues came crashing down last week. It’s that blasted single cigarette a day.

But I have to pick another date and do it again until I get it right. I am not giving up!

Stress and smoking are an evil combination. I’m trying to stay in control of the nicotine yearnings.

I’m still glad I didn’t put off kicking that single daily cigarette, because ultimately there always seem to be stressful events in my life. That impression is linked with depression–but I’m not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg.

My mother stopped smoking several years before she died. I really though miracles happened, but a couple months later she was back at a pack-plus per day.

No smoking since Saturday.

Although I like health and wellness communication a lot, I frequently miss the ad agency milieu where I spent most of my career.

At an ad agency, the culture is pretty relaxed and people a little more kooky–like me. Don’t get me wrong; I work with some awesome people at the Trust. But, sometimes I feel a bit like an alien.

Two things I miss are:

1. Brainstorming sessions. Conducted right, just about anything goes in a brainstorming session because you never know what kernel of a great idea might spring from someone else’s thought or joke.
2. Coming up with a great idea. This doesn’t always happen in a brainstorming session. Sometimes it happens when you’re pairing up with a “partner” or on your own. I believe most people in agencies are like me and have their own way of solo brainstorming.

I’m quite fond of humor as a means of communication. Studies show people are more receptive of a message that motivates them or compels them to change the way they do something when humor is used. And humor stands out better in the sea of messages we’re all bombarded with.

That’s why I like “Smoking Kills,” an irreverent way of delivering an anti-smoking message.

So Saturday I hit a moment of sheer panic. You see, I found out my father’s wife died and that he’d been hospitalized last week with seizures, having been found in his car by a hospital security guard. (My God! He’d just been driving!) I should tell you that Dad has epilepsy which has been extremely well controlled with medication most of his life.

So, Saturday, I’m immediately thinking:

• Is Dad OK? Does his cardiologist know? Will he remember that he had combined seizures and a stroke about 10 years ago? Does his primary care physician know what’s going on? Is anyone coordinating the different aspects of his care?
• The funeral will be next Saturday. Why Saturday, two days before Christmas? Does it even make sense for me to try to fly down to Florida for the service, given holiday travel chaos? Is it wrong of me not to?
• Is Dad OK? I know he’s home. Should he be under medical care?
• Why are we just now finding out that Dad was in the hospital?
• I feel guilty that most of this will fall into the lap of my sister, Meg, because she lives in Florida, about an hour away from Dad.
• Dad’s going to say all kinds of wonderful things about his newly departed spouse–of course. But does he have to say she’s the love of his life and other such “singularly stated” pronouncements? He married this person only three months after Mother died, following more than 40 years of marriage. He and this woman had been married less than four years. Can I keep my cool with that?
• Dad’s going to need help and support. Should I go down after the funeral, when he says he’ll need support the most?
• My other Dad (yes, I have two–this gets really complicated) has been in a nursing home for a month. Although I talk with him on the phone all the time, I haven’t gone down to southern Indiana to see him–something I’d planned to do after the first of the year.
• I haven’t finished my shopping, wrapping and other holiday tasks. How can I go to Florida?
• Should I go to Indiana instead?
• What if one father finds out I went to see the other father first??

Aahhhh!!!

I received the news at our weekly gathering of friends, several of whom smoke. And I bummed a cigarette from a good friend. And I smoked part of it. And it made me feel really sick. I haven’t smoked since.

I can’t react by smoking when I’m feeling overwhelmed in a crisis. But I don’t know what to substitute at a time like that.

Day Three

I was stressed and upset last night and dearly desired a cigarette…but didn’t have one. It was Date Night. Because I already had children when Jeff and I married, we established Tuesday as Date Night. Though the kids are all grown now, it’s remained a necessary and eagerly-anticipated event in light of our busy schedules. It’s also a good distraction from smoking.

When we got home from a Date Night dinner out, I putzed around the house to keep my mind off the cigarette I coveted. There’s too much that needs to be done for the holidays for me to disappear into the office and spend hours on the computer planning exciting vacations.

I wish I could get into some kind of holiday spirit that would make the preparations more enjoyable. It was lovely to get an email from my youngest, Aaron, who lives near Seattle. I’d sent some Harry & David holiday cookies to him at work. He always loved the ones I’d bake when he was smaller.

What a Bah Humbug I am this week!

Ride ‘em in…I’m back in the saddle again…on the wagon…rollin’ along the right path of non smoking…bucking the habit. (But you can see what it’s doing to my sanity.)

The only time I’ve had an issue since my last cigarette Sunday night was seeing a lighter yesterday. It only sparked a fleeting urge and it amused me more than it made me want to light up.

Now if I could just kick my craving for sweets.

Zero cigarettes thus far today, though my daily cigarette has been mostly an after-dinner indulgence. I don’t anticipate a problem, however, because my thinking is pretty set on the issue. I know I’ve licked my physical addiction to nicotine, so it’s been up to me to get my head in the right place. I believe I’m there.

I’ve gotten a couple of emails of encouragement today that’s I’d like to share with you. The following is from a very special colleague who has been incredibly supportive during my quit journey.

Susan-
Reading your blog these past few months, I have learned from you that illness, disease or death from smoking has served as motivation for you to quit. Therefore, I will share with you the news I received today. A dear friend’s Mom died yesterday from COPD. She was 75 and a 40 year, one pack a day smoker. Although she had quit smoking years ago when first diagnosed with COPD, it was too late. Anne was a gem. She had energy beyond her disease and sweetness beyond description. I wanted to tell you about Anne as a reminder to you that indeed, it is time to say good bye to smoking forever.

I am so proud of you that you have re-dedicated yourself to yourself! Good luck on starting over.

I am very glad you found the courage to try again.

You may recognize the next writer–my friend who has been SMOKE-FREE FOR 72 DAYS now, despite her less-than-cooperative spouse.

Good Morning Sue,

Zero cigarettes today? I probably shouldn’t say this, but sticking to ½ or 1 cigarette per day after 35 years of smoking is extremely commendable. I can’t tell you how many times previously that I’ve lit one after quitting for weeks at a time, and inside of a day or two, I was back up to 5, 6 or 7/day and then on the weekends, pretty much smoking non-stop. I finally cracked the addiction, and Mike has been much better about cutting back and smoking less frequently in the house. I plan on picking up an air purifier for the office to which he is relegated to smoke 90% of the time. He has gradually become respectful of my desire to have a smoke free house, well sort of, as long as I don’t bug him about quitting. He won’t tolerate that nonsense from me. You know, Jack Durbin’s wife Deirdre quit smoking 4 years prior to him quitting, so I know it is possible for one person in the relationship to quit as long as the other is respectful. Or, in Mike’s case he’ll see the light after his first heart attack, clogged artery, stroke or lung cancer diagnosis.

Good luck, I know you can do it!!!! You’ve come this far and now just one teeny little hurdle to get over.

Jeff, too, remains a pillar. I’m fortunate, indeed, to have such support.

Starting Monday, December 11, NO MORE CIGARETTES.

Stop and Start

I was so proud of quitting from July 11 through September 3. I actually felt kind of silly when I would make a fuss telling people I’d done it. But it was so HUGE to me. After all, I’d smoked for 35 years.

Then I smoked in Europe.

I made up my mind to quit when we got on the plane in Frankfurt, September 14, to head home. And I did, with no withdrawal symptoms. Then, on September 23, in a total funk, I had a cigarette.

I’ve been having a half a cigarette or a whole cigarette a day since then, thinking, “Well heck, at some point I’ll get it together and dump that daily smoke.” That’s when I was thinking, because mostly, I’ve been distracted with other life issues.

No New Years Resolution

I could wait and make giving up the daily cigarette my New Years resolution. I could at least wait until after Christmas, because holiday preparations are so stressful. Or I could wait for spring, when the garden distracts me and I can bask in the glory of being outdoors and being warm at the same time! But many months of winter are ahead of us in Wisconsin, where sometimes spring really doesn’t happen until June.

July 11 was a good quit day for me. December 11 is a good day to get back to zero cigarettes.

I’d like to have cosmetic surgery–if only it was in the budget. I developed rosacea about ten years ago, which I’m pretty self-conscious about. And I have signs of my 52 years that I’m not at all happy with. My smoking could well have been a factor.

Smoker’s Face

A physician in Britain actually came up with the name, “Smoker’s Face” to describe patients with those telltale symptoms of a long-time smoker–dry, papery, droopy skin, deep wrinkles radiating from the eyes or mouth and sallow skin tones. In fact, the clever Dr. Douglas Model did his own study, identifying which clinic patients were smokers by facial appearance alone. He found it easy to spot people who had smoked for 10 years and more.

Toxic Adventure
It seems all those toxins we inhale when we smoke, such as nicotine and carbon monoxide, constrict the blood vessels which reduces the healthy flow of blood to our skin. Additionally, enzymes produced when we smoke impede our ability to produce collagen, the protein that keeps our skin elastic and strong.

Smoking also increases our risk getting psoriasis or of dying from skin cancer.

I wish I’d believed it earlier. Either I’d have quit smoking or saved up for the plastic surgeon.