George Burns and Groucho Marx smoked cigars for many years and died at 100/George and 86/Groucho. Dean Martin always seem to have a cigarette and drink in his hand when on stage. He died at 78. Remember years ago, when smoking cigarettes was very popular on tv shows like, What's My Line and To Tell The Truth. Seemed like everyone, including the host was constantly smoking. I didn't smoke enough to even be called a smoker. A pack and a half a week and that was it. Started smoking when I was in the Navy. Had to smoke non-filter Camels a few times and that was rough. But, cigarettes and a cups of coffee were the two things that would keep a Sailor awake at sea while standing a watch at 2AM. When I bought my horse and go involved in rodeo, got rid of the cigarettes, but took up snuff/chew (as in Copenhagen, Skoal and Red Man). Didn't bother my wife at all. But, when I started getting an irritation inside my lower lip, I gave up the snuff/chew. Didn't do that much in the first place. I'd buy a can of Cope or Skoal and, within a week, it was dried out in the can. My horse shoer would got thru a can of Cope in a day. Never went back to cigarettes or snuff/chew.
Johnny Carson at one time smoked 4 packs of Pall Malls a day. He had quadruple bypass surgery at age 73 and died from emphysema at age 79. Having always been athletic, he felt his life had been cut short by the habit. Leonard Nimoy was in the same boat. He lived to be 83, but long-suffered from COPD.
Scheduling and getting prep info on scanning procedures is a real goat rodeo. In 1990 I had an Iodine Contrast IV for kidney stone x-rays, and at the end of the procedure I heard the nurse say to the doctor "He's getting hives on his lips," then she poked at them. While no one specifically told me that I had an allergic reaction to the iodine, I've been putting it down as an allergy on all my medical charts. It's been documented in the UVA Health System computer for over 10 years. My GP scheduled a CT Scan this week to check out the mild diverticulitis he diagnosed last Thursday. No one gave me prep instructions, so I called the imaging center on Friday for instructions on the Monday scan. While we're on the phone, the woman sees my allergy and tells me that I cannot have the procedure at the satellite center where it's currently scheduled. They gotta do it in a hospital setting. Surprise!!! Gee. Glad I called. They give me the general prep instructions and call in a prednisone script for me to take as a precautionary measure heading into the procedure. I also have to bring some OTC Benadryl with me. I later had questions regarding the script and the last diverticulitis antibiotic I'm scheduled to take that day. I also wanted to tell them that I have this SP catheter, just to avoid surprises. So I called them again. While I'm on the phone with that call, the woman tells me that they want me to have a driver!!! No one said anything about this to me...it's just a CT Scan. It turns out that they don't want me on the road with Benadryl in my system, even though I'll take it an hour before my procedure. Surprise!!! Gee. Glad I called. Footnote: I feel bad for the folks who show up to work every day in these environments. It's gotta be a million times more frustrating for them than it is for me.
I had given up smoking cigarettes for about 10 years when all of a sudden a pack of cigars arrived in the mail on the day we were goin to go to Main for your annual October lobster.Before we'd don halfway to our hotel, I was stopping to buy more cigars...I inhaled everything I SMOKED,CIGARETTES, cigars, pipe,,,,By janusary I was smoking 10-20 cigars a day so I switched back to the smaller nails and continued smoking unctil 1989.
I won't admit to how many I was smoking, but it was in your range of 10-20 a day. I smoked these: What made it worse is that I knew my prior home was a knock-down, so I didn't care how stinky I got it. With all the cancer in my family I still did this to myself until I picked up a case of strep throat. The ENT guy put a scope up my nose and down my through and showed my the plaque that the infection had deposited on my vocal chords (I could not speak.) That's when I quit in 2010. In 2018 I had a full body CT Scan for an unrelated issue and sat down with a pulmonologist as he stepped through the slices of my lungs. Except for legacy scars from bronchitis, everything was clear (at that time.)
When a paper came out years ago, medical students I was having lunch with were discussing it. The study showed that moderate pipe and cigar smokers live longer than non-smokers with the same risk factors. The students were puzzled and came to the conclusion that pipe and cigar smoking (not inhaled) did more good in other ways (probably stress relief) than harm. They also concluded that something must be added to cigarettes to make them more harmful.
According to the scientist our DNA is a real mess and all of us contain a lot of junk DNA dating to the beginning of time as we know it. It reminds me of that movie Quest For Fire. The first of our species were born without the natural disease and bacterial immunity. Somewhere in time things may have become so intertwined we're all lucky to even be alive. It is mind boggling to know we all have the same genes as the earliest man beast. I read that the researchers have found a lot of unexplained things that have to do with DNA actually placing zones where actions take place or actually locked out, but they cannot determine how it is done. They call those blockers "do not allow" as in the string of DNA where things are orderly. It is really interesting. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/only-a-tiny-fraction-of-our-dna-is-uniquely-human
My late daughter-in-law developed an extremely toxic form of uterine cancer and was gone in 4 months despite very aggressive chemotherapy and radiation. In the beginning, her doctor at Sloan Kettering, asked her permission for DNA studies. She looked askance at me, and I told her to sign the papers. It was finally determined that her chromosome 17 was flawed, thus causing her endometrial cells to go haywire. Several institutions throughout the globe have been benefitting from these studies. She was only 49 years old, 4 years ago. Her mother had died from brain cancer when she was only 37. It was a glioblastoma, which was surgically removed to a degree and extended her life for a little over a year. We never know what or when these cancer cells well get derailed in us, if ever. I had/have nodules on my lungs, trachea and thyroid. The two largest nodules, one on each lung, were burned out by a high radiation beam. There are a couple of smaller ones, barely visible, being watched. The nodules on my thyroid are being treated. Beth and I have held virtual hands throughout our various ordeals, and I was lucky to have her. What she was going through was much tougher, but she, with her delightful good humor kept me going. I am ever grateful.
Lois, you are an absolute treasure and I value your friendship so much. Thanks again for walking that scary path with me. I hope you're feeling well these days. Several of our SoC "family" have been through cancer treatments or other illnesses; it's a comfort to interact with those who have faced the terror and understand. As far as the DNA testing I had done, I was relieved that I don't carry the known genes for hereditary cancers. I was afraid I might pass the gene to my children or grandchildren, so it was a relief to find that I don't carry them. Also, since I had a rare type of cancer, I signed all kinds of releases for MD Anderson to use my tissue, blood, etc. for any testing or research.
Boy will we be glad to move. Too darn cold here for us anymore. As I write this, it's 26 degrees. Have two plastic-wrap type cold shields over our bedroom window and it's still cold in there. Two! Bought at Lowe's. Have to have our thermostat set at either 78 or 79 thru the night, even with each of us having a blanket on.