What picture will scare people into a healthy lifestyle?
Drastic effect of smoking
Every Smoker out there needs to read this.
Maybe the one below will…and maybe it won’t. A photograph I just took of my abdomen. What it shows is not only a massive scar but a stoma bag.
Why do I have this Stomach Bag and what could have caused it?
Because I was a smoker.
Not a heavy smoker. Only maximum of six cigarettes a day. But enough however for me to develop bowel cancer. Early in May I was rushed in for emergency surgery with a massive bowel obstruction. A six centimetre tumor that had punched through my large bowel and into muscle tissue.
And all in less than a year after my husband passed away as a result of pancreatic cancer,
I am now having to endure chemotherapy. Not a pleasant experience at all.
And the stoma bag?
Well I get to keep that until my large bowel has healed. I was fortunate that surgeon was able to rejoin it so the bag isn’t for life.
And all because I was so arrogant to think lightning wouldn’t strike twice. Smoking was my crutch through all the pain and grief of losing my husband. I probably should have gone with chocolate or something a little less likely to kill me.
But to wrap up…
There is no safe level of smoking.
So if you’re contemplating quitting, please do. Don’t wait until what happened to me happens to you.
end note: for those who don’t know, a stoma bag is, it’s what is collecting my poop until the day comes that I can live without it. Think about that if you’re a smoker and about to go light up.
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