My mom has lung cancer and won't stop smoking!

[Peartree12249]

I was wondering if the doctor recommended the nicotine patch? I know when I tried quitting the first time it really helped with cravings and I didn't crave smokes until I went off the patch too soon. This might at least help her get through until the surgery. That's what they'll give her in the hospital after surgery since she won't be able to smoke.

By the way I did eventually quit 3 years ago cold turkey.

[donnaplease]

Voyager, I'm very sorry to hear about your mother. Best of luck to your family dealing with all this. My father died of lung cancer, partly related to smoking unfiltered Camels for years (hadn't smoked for 10 years or so prior, though) and partly due to work in shipyards and exposure during his pacific tour days during WWII.

The person I want to tell you about though, is my mom. She was also a smoker. On the night before Valentine's day, she had a 'spell' (I wasn't there to witness it so I didn't know at the time exactly what it was). By the time I got to her, though, it looked to me as if she had a stroke (which is what her diagnosis wound up being), she was aphasic with reduced mobility. CT scan was negative, carotid duplex was essentially clear, she weighed 95 pounds soaking wet and BP was great. She also got a lot better over the next few days, so we were happy that it was a 'mild' stroke, or maybe a TIA. The only risk factor she had was that she was a smoker. I rode her hard about her smoking after that, and chewed my brother out when I discovered that he was getting her cigarettes. Quitting was HORRIBLE for her, but I felt like what I was doing was in her best interest, and if she could only get over the hump...

Well, this one spell led to another, and I soon discovered that she was having seizures. Another hospital stay, with another negative CT scan. (Just an FYI, a CT scan will not usually show an embolic CVA until some time afterward, when that part of the brain that was affected essentially dies off). Needless to say, based on what we were being told, dammit, she's gotta quit smoking! By the beginning of the 2nd week in March she had her 3rd spell, and over the course of a weekend, she went from being an independent ambulator to having right-sided hemiplegia. Come to find out... there was never a stroke - she had a VERY aggressive form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma Multiforme. It was a very fast-growing, terminal disease process, that according to the literature had the potential to double in size every 10-11 days.

Now, talk about feeling like the lowest piece of shit possible!!! My precious mother suffered for those 3 to 4 weeks trying to quit an addiction that wasn't even affecting her physically, and took away so much from the quality of whatever life she had left. Once I learned what we were dealing with, I went out an immediately bought her a pack of cigarettes. She died about 5 weeks after her first spell. It pretty much haunts me that I may have caused her discomfort by berating her for smoking. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I wish I could do it all over again.

I'm not telling you that I think you shouldn't get involved, please don't misconstrue. I guess I'm just saying don't be too hard on yo' momma. Just love her through it. I'll be praying for you.