Now why should I quit smoking???

Some questions are tricky to answer. Like the one I got from a 45 year old gentleman whom I diagnosed with lung cancer. I caught him smoking just after he completing his chemotherapy session (to treat his cancer!). I was unhappy that he had not learned his lesson, after having a life threatening cancer, and he had still not quit smoking! He said he was puffing his worries away and blatantly asked me “Now why should I quit smoking? Jo hona tha woh toh ho gaya! “

Some people would walk away from this scene and leave him to his luck. But I decided to persuade him. “Do you think this is it? You feel this is the worst thing that could happen? No!!” Sadly this is a common misconception. Smoking in any form (and any amount) - cigarette, bidi, hukkah, chillum etc is highly dangerous. Smoking results in a very high chance of getting cancer of almost all organs of the body. It can cause hundreds of different illnesses related to one’s vital organs, i.e. heart, lungs, stomach, bones, brain etc. “I know all this!” he exclaimed. I began to think, “This is not helping”. I asked him why people smoke. He said it was for pleasure, arousal, enhanced vigilance, an improved performance, relief of anxiety or stress but also mostly out of habit. I started wondering what started this vicious habit. Was it peer pressure, and observing people smoke around especially in movies that encouraged these smokers? “Why should I worry about these things”, he said. I replied, “you should”. You may be able to control your cancer and live longer thanks to the good treatment available, but breathing problems, cough, and chest pains will make your life miserable. Your heart and lungs which have already been weakened will start going into organ failure. Breathing may become difficult without medicines or sometimes without a ventilator. A paralytic stroke may leave you so helpless that you wouldn’t be able to lift a cigarette, leave alone other tasks. You can get cancers of other organs, which can make even daily chores of swallowing food and water, passing urine, defecating extremely difficult. Cigarette burns every part of your body like itself and may leave you bedridden and helpless without support. This lung cancer may not kill you before you experience any of the other dreadful consequences of smoking. Every pack of cigarette says it can cause cancer, you thought it will never affect you, but it did, and so can any of the other organ problems. Quitting smoke at any age will only add to health benefits. Chemical disturbances in your body may take a few weeks to resolve, but you have to try.

                You will never be prepared for the suffering it can cause and the economic impact it has on you and your family. Also did you ever think that, when you see your 14 year old son emulating you what will say to him?

“Ouch” he said, as the cigarette burned his finger. This burn will heal but other problems may not. Quit today, right now, you’ll get all the help you need from doctors, but everything depends on whether you are motivated enough to quit.

I left the scene, with the hope that not only will he stop smoking but also motivate others to stop. But the question always troubles me when someone asks now why should I quit smoking? Jo hona tha who toh ho gaya!