Quit Smoking Monday Messages

Monday March 9, 2009

The Lives Lost to Lung Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 215,020 new cases of lung cancer (114,690 among men and 100,330 among women) were diagnosed in the United States during 2008. And of those, upwards of 161,840 precious souls (90,810 among men and 71,030 among women) lost their lives to the disease last year.

About.com Smoking Cessation forum member, ThornyRose recently shared the painful news that her father has been diagnosed with lung cancer:

My Dad Has Lung Cancer

From ThornyRose:

"Three weeks ago, my daddy was diagnosed with terminal small-cell lung cancer, which is almost always linked to smoking. The CT scans showed 8 large tumors, and "numerous" 2mm-or-less tumors in and around the lung area. In one still scan, I counted 30(!!!) total tumors. The largest tumor has dominated his upper left lung, broken through the lung, eaten part of his rib, and is in the process of making a cozy additional residence in his pectoral muscle.

"Daddy is dying; he will not live to see his 64th birthday in November. He's going to be lucky if he sees the pecan trees in the front yard produce their first leaves! Gone already are the days where he was hale, hearty and able to live life to its fullest. Now, I wonder...Will it be that big tumor which gets him? Will it be the tumor which is partially wrapped around his aorta? Or will it be one that we haven't seen yet?"

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States today, with more people dying from it than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined. As hard as it is to read accounts such as ThonyRose's, for the person who is trying to quit smoking, the dose of reality they provide is a cessation tool like no other.

And remember:

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death today.

If you've never smoked, don't start.

If you do smoke, quit now.

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Quit Smoking Monday Messages Archive

We all have the ability to quit smoking successfully, and we all deserve a life that is free of addiction. Honor your life by choosing Monday as the day to start and reinforce your quit program.

You can quit smoking ... and we’re here to help you, one simple Monday at a time.

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