i thought i had just created a post but i don't know where it went..... i am a 44 year old woman who thought that i had it under control. i did have high blood pressure but i've had it since i was 12. i figured the medication had it covered. i'm fairly athletic, weight training 3 days a week, pilates 6-7 (maybe a little obsessive but thats a smoker for ya). never coughed. because my lungs actually look pretty good. my vasular system on the other hand, not so much. i have severe peripheral artery disease and coronary artery disease. in the last four months i've had 6 stents placed in my illiac artery and one in my heart. and btw, my cholesterol was fine. doctor's say that the smoke so irritated the blood vessels that they became rough. now the plaque just sticks. i'm using chantix and doing ok. but it's so very difficult sometimes. i mean smoking would be beyond stupid. the doctor told me (cardiologists are really dry people, so i doubt he's exaggerating) that a return to smoking will cost me my leg or life within a year. so there! so how could i miss it. i always said that a cigarette was my best friend. but it couldn't come visit me in the hospital. i think that my journalling was much more clever on cigarettes. but that may just be this one. i want to stop counting,become a non. not ex. possible?? pointers an yone?
