In June of 2001, I tried again, it lasted 3 days and in January of 2002 I tried yet again.......lasting maybe 4 days. I didn't really want to quit. Well I did and I didn't . Look at my grandfather, look at my aunt, my parents have no ill-effects, they are in their seventies now. Nothing is going to happen to me, I'm not a heavy smoker.

In March of 2002, I was going in to have some surgery. I was sent for pre-op tests, blood work, chest x-ray, EKG.......etc. My doctor called on March 7 to say something had showed up on my x-ray. There was a spot in my left lung. Oh my God, what does that mean exactly? I was to go and see the specialist the next day. March 7 was the last day I put a cigarette to my mouth. It was also the day my sister quit.

I saw the specialist the next day and was told it was cancer and it was very close to the heart. If it had reached the heart there was nothing they could do. When I looked at the cat scan it looked like it was touching the heart, thats how close it was. The only alternative I had to beat this was to have my left lung removed. What? Me? Cancer? Lung removed? ......no can't be, I'm too young for this.......

The next month and a half was very busy. I had a cat scan, bone scan and ultra sound, all were negative, which was good news, it was nowhere else in my body. I had stress tests, lung functions tests and I was beginning to think there wasn't anymore blood for them to take. I passed all the tests and was ready for surgery. My Doctor told me he didn't know if it had spread to my lymph nodes and he wouldn't know until he was in there.

On April 23rd they wheeled me into the operating room at 8:20 a.m. Five hours later I was wheeled out of surgery and placed in Intensive Care on a breathing machine. I was not only missing a lung, I was also missing a rib. Fortunately it hadn't spread to the lymph nodes.

Don't ever think this can't happen to you. I thought the same thing and look what happened to me. I'm one of the fortunate ones ...................... why? I'll never know the answer to that and I'm certainly not out of the woods yet either. I have to be checked every six months for the next three years.
You can quit! Don't let what happened to me, happen to you. It can happen to anyone and at any age. I used to believe I was above the warnings on cigarette packs, but you know what?.......they are true........CIGARETTES KILL, they almost killed me! I'm just thankful I can tell you this story instead of my family having to post it in the "Wall of Remembrance."

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