mwessell

At this time last year, I was lying in a hospital bed in Boston with a chest tube sucking air and blood out of me, I was squeezing my morphine pump every six minutes, I was peeing in a catheter, and puking my guts out.

I had surgery a year ago today to remove a nodule that looked malignant. I was a 25 year smoker, 43 years old with a 1 year old and a 12 year old.

I was lucky. It was benign. But I will NEVER forget the discomfort from that surgery. I will never forget the feeling of guilt that I could have been dying and leaving my girls.

I quit smoking the night before that surgery, and have not picked one up since. One year and one day.

I pray every day that I never do develop a cancer in my lungs or anywhere else for that matter.

IF YOU SMOKE - PLEASE QUIT TODAY. And for those of you that do have cancer, or a loved one of yours has cancer, I pray for you every day. I know how lucky I am. I know how scared you are.

__________________
Mary Ellen