A plea to quit smoking from one who knows the pain

To The Daily Sun,

M I have the most amazing Mom! Sadly, however, she smoked for many years. She tried to quit, but it never lasted. She was born in 1944 and began smoking at the age of 14. In almost all of the pictures we have of her, an ashtray or cigarette was close by.

I realize that back then, it was the “cool” thing to do. Now she is paying for it with her life. She smoked during both of her pregnancies. My brother has asthma and I have severe allergies; both have been linked to smoking during pregnancy. Second-hand smoke is also just as deadly; don’t fool yourself into thinking it is not.

My mother has CHF (congestive heart failure) and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). She is now in a rehabilitation center because she requires 24-hour care that (sadly) neither my brother nor I can provide. Mom has a DNR order. She has instructed my brother that if she has another “attack” she does not want to go back to the hospital; she wishes to just be kept comfortable. 

She has four wonderful grandchildren that will miss her terribly when she is gone. She has a best friend she has had for over 60 years who will miss her something fierce. She has a son who will be lost without her, and a daughter who will no longer have her in her life. We have no idea how long she has. Some doctors say weeks, others say a few months.

This is a terrible way to die! I know many have heard this lecture from your doctor, dentist, family members, and friends. Please listen to them, as it is never too late to quit! Do not make your loved ones see what we are witnessing. This IS a preventable disease.

My mother will not live to see her 75th birthday. She will not live to have another Christmas holiday (which was her favorite). She will not see her grandchildren marry and have children. She will not do so many things she enjoyed ever again. My mother will die a slow, suffocating death. 

Please, if you smoke — STOP! Do it for the people you love and — more importantly — do it for yourself.

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” — C.S. Lewis 

Denise C Burke

Gilford