Smoking and KC

i have been diagnosed 2 weeks ago with KC and mets to the lungs, I was always a smoker but not a heavy one, I know the stats, any amount of cigarettes are too much, I have since beat myself up over this since finding out I am now sick, I have since almost quit, I still only have 2 puffs of a smoke after dinner, that one is the hardest to get rid of but I am sure that I can do it, or should I say I have no choice, I have to do it, Is anyone else out there smokers still after diagnosis?  and if you have quit, how did you do it?

Hi. I was diagnosed with KC with mets on the lungs and bone in left ankle on 27th December 2007. I was a smoker not alot normally about 12 a day but 2 days after the diagnoses I finished my last box of cigarettes and have not had 1 since. There have been days since when I was tempted but I know if I have 1 I could start again.

 I had tried to give up a number of times over the 30 years I had smoked but never managed more than a month but I just stopped. I was unable to walk without crutches due to the tumour in my ankle so this made it difficult to get to the shop but in the first few months I rearly did not want a cig.

I had my kidney removed at the end of January this year and my treatment had killed all of the cancer on my kidney and the last CT scan of my lungs showed only 1 sign on my lungs which the Doctor felt was probably dead. The tumour in my ankle has also gone and I am walking unaided.

I do believe the fact I was able to stop smoking has helped in my fight with KC so do try to pack it up.

Steve 

People also need to know that side-stream or second-hand smoke is more dangerous than inhaled smoke and can cause kc.  My parents both smoked in our home for over 30 years and I contracted kc at age 60, which I attribute in large part to the smoke I inhaled in the house, car and everywhere they were.  My mother had emphysema which she died from and my father died of lung cancer.  Case closed!  Smokers, please quit before you do yourselves or your loved ones this harm.

my husband is still smoking after being diagnosed with kidney cancer, stage four and having his right kidney removed a year ago.  It has now metastisized to his lung.  I wish he would quit, it really scares me that he is still smoking after all the problems he has had.  Try hard to quit and get help with it.

Go cold turkey. The first 3 days are rough, the next 2 not quite as bad, and once you've stopped completely for 7 days you have it whipped.

If you're only having 2 puffs after dinner, this may work well for you: go down to just one puff after dinner for 2 days. Then down to the smallest amount you can possibly inhale for 2 days, On the 5th day, none.

Smoking is a very hard habit to break. It's highly addictive and can even cause physical withdrawal symptoms....the last time I tried to quit, I got a rash on both arms; go figure!

 But you can do it.

 

Lisa in AZ, USA 

 

Hi there,

I'm a kidney cancer survivor going on 12 years now.  I'm here on this board today primarily because my husband has Stage IV colon cancer and I'm finding the advice on this message board very helpful.  

Now for my advice as a KC survivor.   Quit smoking NOW. I was a non-smoker at the time of my KC diagnosis in 1997, and I believe the fact that I never did smoke enabled me to beat this disease.  Why did I get KC?  Who knows?  But my smoking had nothing to do with it ... err... unless it was from second hand smoke?  But my oncologist at the time said the fact I wasn't a smoker -- never in my life had I been a smoker -- dramatically increased my chances of beating KC ... which I did.  

I wish I could offer better advice on how to quit.  But I can offer advice as a KC survivor and relay what my oncologist told me back in 1997 about smoking versus KC outcomes.

Paula Jean