Posted on 01/26/2005 3:06:33 PM PST by Rennes Templar
There are two kinds of conversations about Johnny Carson. One kind is the one most of you are having. It is light and interesting, about showbiz, TV, popular culture. Then there is the other conversation many of us have been avoiding.
-snip-
A part of it (the conversation)landed on my desk with a little thump. It was a package, about the size of your palm, with a brown camel on it, two pyramids and three palm trees.
"You can have them," said a friend who tossed them, casual in voice, though there was no missing the symbolism of it, his casting away of the Camels.
"I'm done with them," he said. "I quit."
-snip-
Carson's death could have been due to pneumonia, to infection, or it could have been respiratory failure. Either way it was private, and ugly.
I thought of him suffering amidst tubes.
"You can quit," Dr. Gross said. "You can have a life. You can quit."
I've failed before. And I'm afraid of failing. But Johnny Carson convinced me.
If you're interested in doing the same, you can call the American Lung Association at 312-243-2000.
jskass@tribune.com
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Yes, I haven't quit smoking. Of course, my dad dies of cirrohsis after drinking for 35-40 years, and quitting for 10 or so. Your lungs may heal after a while, but the damage to the liver from drinking is permanent. It wasn't pretty either.
S--t happens.....
I knew a guy when I was a kid growing up (and still know him) He had bad asthma, but, he was a smoker. He's still a smoker, but he doesn't have asthma anymore, 30 years later.
Asthma can be caused or triggered by many things, even psychological triggers, like nervousness, shyness etc. Immunity problems as well. Country kids have a much lower instance of Asthma, possibly because they are exposed to more airborne pollens and stuff, and develop immunity to them, where as city kids grow up in a more sterile environment as far as natural pollens and yeasts, molds etc. So they don't develop those immunities.
Looks like it is running 10:1 for those NOT smoking.
That is very true. The smoking kills all the capillaries (small blood vessels) in the gums and the gums lose their source of nourishment.
Smokers gums sometimes fool you to look like they're healthy because they don't bleed but it's only because they are starved of nourishment.
(you can believe me, I'm a dentist)
"I think if one can go a couple days without smoking and then realize that the physical part is over, then it becomes easier to just tell oneself that its all just a matter of not picking up the first one."
I think that's true.
Plus, we had a newborn and his father had a history of heart disease, so he had reasons to not pick up that first one.
It sounds so hard to quit, though. I'm glad I never started.
Interesting that you posit a hypothesis 180 out from that of the medical and epidemiological experts.
On this thread perhaps. I revise my instinct to 50%. FWIW, I don't smoke tobacco, but am against all the smoke-nazis and their control-freak agendas.
"No. He died because he smoked and got sick. Smoking destroyed his lungs."
At 79, I'd say he was old and got sick. Yes, he smoked. Smoking is bad for you. It contributed to the timing of his death....at 79. If one is fat, maybe diabetes will the killer. Something happens to all of us to make us die. I was wondering when the anti-smoking people would start using Carson's death for their own cause.
I quit on August 26, 1968 at 0600. We had a Captain's inspection that day, and I knew I'd have a four hour start. About fifteen years later (seriously!) I stopped dreaming I was a smoker again.
No one asked my advice but it is possible to quit, it's hard, more difficult than quitting heroin, I'm told but possible. FR has some of the strongest people I've ever argued with and I know the vast majority are up to the difficulty. It would be nice to have more of you around a whole lot longer.
Is that the same as, "you can trust me, I'm a doctor"? ;^)
Unfortunately, the damage in emphysema is, for the most part, permanent.
lol...yeah I'd put "Mr." in front...
Good for you but you're still going to die.
Carson was going into his 80th year for Pete's sake! It's not like he was cut down in the prime of his life. Why can't you people just give it a rest and celebrate the man's life?
I had asthma as a kid and then it went away for 35 years. It came back big time after I got a severe infection similar to bacterial meningitis that almost killed me a couple of times before I fought it off with the help of several doctors. Everyone's health is different, but when you smoke, you are naturally stacking the deck against yourself in the long run. Same as with heavy drinking or overeating fatty foods, etc. When you have a brush with death, you realize you want to live to be with your loved ones as long as possible, so you change your lifestyle accordingly.
Hang around on the smoking threads and you will hear everything.
Yeah, well my mother's brother and two sisters have smoked like chimneys since they were teenagers. They are now all in their 70s and doing fine. My mother was the only one in her family who didn't smoke. She lived in a smoke free home since marrying my Dad at the age of 25. She died at age 59 of lung cancer. Go figure.
Carson had great genes. Had he not smoked he'd probably still be playing tennis and writing comedy, imo.
Hollywood and NY glamorized smoking and thus led to the deaths of thousands and suffering for many more. I am to celebrate that?
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