My dear wife of 27 years was suddenly diagnosed with lung cancer recently. She, like I, had never touched a cigarette in her life. Unfortunately, both of her parents, now deceased, were chain smokers for many years. I don’t blame them because no one really knew the dangers of smoking 50 years ago. It appears that the effects of secondhand smoke can appear overnight many years later.
I am mainly aiming this plea at teenagers. If you have never started smoking, please don’t. If you have started, even with all of the information about how dangerous it is, and you are too ignorant, stupid or lacking in willpower to quit for your own health, at least think about those around you and don’t smoke near them. Also think about your unborn children and what you could be doing to them. Do you really want to be responsible for possibly contributing to their premature death?
I don’t know what the prognosis is for my wife yet, but from what I have heard, it doesn’t sound good. I suppose it’s actually fortunate that her parents are gone already, so that they don’t have to experience losing their baby.
But that doesn’t do much for my wife, me and our two lovely young daughters.
I never thought anything like this would ever happen in our very anti-smoking family. Now that it has really hit home, more than ever I would welcome the end of all tobacco products.
When will we learn?
