Posted on 07/30/2011 7:31:27 AM PDT by Dr. Scarpetta
Actor Michael Douglas was photographed smoking on a yacht last week - less than a year after "beating" stage IV throat cancer.
The Oscar winner appears on the new cover of Star Magazine and in photos inside puffing on what appears to be a hand-rolled cigarette July 21.
He looks tanned and relaxed in the exclusive Star photos, leaning on the yacht's railing while traveling with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones along the Italian Riviera.
"Are you calling about the photos, because we have no comment," a rep for Douglas' spokesman Allen Burry told the Daily News.
The Hollywood icon, 66, was diagnosed with stage IV throat cancer last August and lost 32 pounds undergoing intensive chemotherapy and radiation.
"I feel good. I feel relieved," the actor told NBC "Today" host Matt Lauer in an interview in January, revealing that his treatment was a success.
"The tumor is gone," he told Lauer. "The odds are with the tumor gone and what I know about this particular type of cancer, that I've got it beat."
"It's rare to return to smoking after something like this, but it's an addiction akin to heroin. It's a physical addiction, not just psychological, and very difficult to break," said Dr. Eric Genden, a Mt. Sinai surgeon.
"It's a bad idea. In patients with a history of carcinoma of the throat, smoking represents an exceptionally high risk to developing recurrence and even dying from the disease."
It's possible Douglas was smoking medical marijuana or another substance other than tobacco, but medical marijuana typically is used to treat loss of appetite and nausea while treatment is ongoing.
Most patients quit any type of smoking because it tends to cause a burning sensation on throat tissue damaged by radiation, Genden said.
It's a really bad idea," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Scarpetta = Small Shoe/Italian
Don’t count yourself out. I “quit” several times for varying lengths of time before I actually quit. Then one time I made up my mind, quit cold turkey, vowed never to again touch a cigarette, and now after about ten years I haven’t and know I never will. I have absolutely no desire to smoke. Can’t imagine it, really. No patches or program or anything. I just made up my mind and eventually my body followed.
My father, who was a heavy smoker, had 3 heart attacks and 2 strokes. The 2nd stroke left him pretty much helpless, with a limited vocabulary and in a nursing home. After all of that my mother came in one day for a visit and found a pack of cigarettes in his robe pocket. She ordered the nurses not to give him access to tobacco. My sentiment was more like yours: what's it going to do, make him worse?
your right that is a doobie
I quit smoking too. Started smoking in my late teens(seems that's when every one starts) and quit about 13 years later, smoked pack and a half a day. Actually quit several times before the final time. Haven't had a cigarette since 1982. First week was h*ll, it got easier after that. The cravings got less and less each day, not sure how long it took before I didn't really miss it. Several months maybe? I still craved cigarettes every once in awhile, maybe ever few months or so I'd get a craving. About 10 years or so ago, I stopped having cravings completely.
Chantix.
Shuts off the nicotine receptors in the brain and takes care of the physical cravings. That was the reason I couldn’t stop...it wasn’t the “habit” aspect...it was physical.
Some folks can’t take it but it a miracle. I smoked for 40 yrs. Finally got Chantix and left cigs behind 3 years ago and have not looked back. Some RARE cravings sometimes come but they are easily batted away.
Why yes, it is news. The title loudly proclaimed its contents so you could bypass it. You do have the right to not read every article, did you know that?
If they were allowed to do research on MM and it were more widely legal, drug companies could come up with an inhaler system.
I quit cold turkey once for 3 years and vowed I would never smoke again. Started back and then quit again cold turkey 12 years ago. I have no personal experience with drug addiction but I would guess that nicotine is as addictive as heroin. The hardest thing I ever did was quit smoking. Its like losing a friend.
COld turkey is the way to quit - but you have to understand what happens
Most people dont recognize that the cravings and insomnia are simply WITDRAWAL SYMPTOMS and will go away in about 3 days
If you want to quit, go to you doctor and get a weeks supply of sleeping pills and valium
Once you know what is going on and you help to conteract some of the symptoms, it is easy
He IS playing with fire and this is sort of beside the point, but he is in an adulterous marriage.....I know everybody here like Catherine, however, Michael Douglas has a living spouse and he is probably not really wanting to explain to God much...
I quit several times. Finally quit cold turkey in 1982. That was seriously hard and for some reason harder then the other few times I’d tried to quit. Every once in a while after, I’d actually have a nightmare that I was smoking again. I knew that if I had one cigarette I’d be hooked again. The cravings stopped all together about 10 or so years ago. Until then I would have an occasional craving.
You have to quit KNOWING what the WITHDRAWAL symptoms are
The intense cravings for a smoke and insomnia are what gets most people to give up trying to quit
but it goes away in 3 or 4 days
plan a weekend around it- see my previous post
I don't even remember when I quit, but I had wanted to for a long time. I threw away a half pack, and never wanted another one after that. I saw a lady buy a carton last week, and it was $55 here in Texas. Glad I quit when they were $1.25 per pack at the PX.
I used One Step to quit.
http://www.quitsmoking.com/onestep.htm
$20 and you get 4 filters that remove varying amounts of tar/nicotine. You clean your filters with q tips. When you are cleaning the filters and realize that gunk is going into your lungs its a real eye opener.
That was over 7 years ago. I think it worked because over time the amount in the body reduced enough so that I didn’t have that ‘panic’, need for a cigarette.
I smoked for 6 years and was up to 3-1/2 packs a day. I decided at the tender age of 24 that I couldn’t keep it up as it was causing “smokers cough” and strep throat. I’m still not sure how I did it, but I quit cold turkey, had the shakes for a few days, and cried when anyone even gave me a sideways look. I got thru 2 weeks, and then 3 weeks, and I finally got to the point where you couldn’t pay me to start again. So, I figured that if I’m going to be miserable I might as well lose weight too. And I dropped 25 lbs. Of course, I was a whole lot younger then (only 25 years old) Don’t think I could handle having to go thru it again. I chewed gum - all the time. I personally probably kept the gum industry going for a few years.....
Mrs. NHD
It is necessary to alter quite a bit of daily life when you decide to quit. And it’s a good idea to keep your decision to yourself.
LOL on the first part. I can't stand the smell of anyone who smokes now, and you are right about the smells like s#%t.
I quit by putting them on the other side of the room where I had to get up to have a smoke. Then by looking at my watch and waiting five minutes, then ten, then fifteen. Then smoking only half the cigarette. About six months later when I got down to two smokes a day and wait thirty minutes before lighting up and only taking three drags I quit cold turkey. Been about five years or so now.
The other option I considered was to send the wife on vacation for a year while I went crazy for a damn smoke. Couldn’t see getting a divorce over a simple bad habit.
I know there`s a lotta talk going around today
About cigarette smoking whittling your life away
I`ve seen it and I`ve heard it so many times
That finally it just started to prey on my mind
I guess it scared me a little bit
That`s why I decided I was gonna quit
So while I was sitting here forming my battle plan
I took another puff and turned on the fan
I just sat there in my easy chair
And thought of all the money I`d wasted on cigarettes all these years
I thought how I`d spend the rest of my days
After I kick this habit my body craves
Said to myself this ain`t gonna be so tough
With that little bit of assurance
I took another puff
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.