Help to Stop Smoking

Sherman is back! After being absent while doing hand rehab for two months, we were reunited in the pulmonary rehab class yesterday. It felt fantastic! He looked fantastic! We had a ball. I still can't believe that he is turning 89-years old in January. Sounds so old yet he is not. A young soul with a hearty laugh. We laughed and teased each other through the entire class because we were just so happy to be together again.

While we chatted and laughed in the lobby waiting for the class to begin, my friend Joan was checking in for work. She was an ICU nurse where my dad died, led the relaxation classes when I was first diagnosed, substitutes for the RNs in rehab when they are absent and we have just known each other for many years. I haven't seen her in quite awhile. She has a very quiet, calm affect and speaks very softly and always with kindness.

She is the head of the smoking cessation classes at my university hospital in the city and the hospital group of the two hospital where I do my rehab. She is good at it. She has great success helping people to quit smoking. I told her that Michael's twin has been smoking since he was 14-years old, looks ten years older than Michael but has tried all the drugs to help him quit, with no success. (Michael quit cold turkey 32 years ago after William was born.) She told me that most programs and people don't know that there are actually eight drugs to help someone quit and that she uses combinations of those drugs for whatever the patient needs. She gave me her card, asked to have him phone her and she will talk with him to explain why her program will probably help him finally quit. She is a former smoker and understands. She is not aggressive with her patients but kind and supportive. When I told her that I suspected that he already had emphysema and wondered why Kaiser had not ordered a chest x-ray, she told me that to properly diagnose emphysema, they have the patient do full pulmonary function tests to see the specific areas of damage. She said that the first goal will be to help him to quit smoking then she will help him address the other issues.

So, I gave her card to Michael last night. He promised to give it to his twin this weekend. We will see if he takes the first step forward to finally quit smoking forever.